Victory! A Holiday Present for
San Onofre State Beach |
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On December 18, 2008, the U.S. Department of Commerce gave Californians a much-welcomed holiday present – the protection of San Onofre State Beach! After months of deliberating the Transportation Corridor Agency's (TCA) appeal of February's overwhelming California Coastal Commission decision, Commerce upheld the state's strong decision to protect the park. In their decision, Commerce found that reasonable alternatives to the toll road proposed by the TCA exist, and that the toll road is not necessary in the interest of national security.
This is a great win for all park supporters – and for all Californians! It's no small feat that this project is so bad, even the Bush Administration cannot find a reason to give it a green light. We'll admit that we weren't sure they would be handing us this present, but this is a welcome, even if unexpected, way for all of us to head into the holidays!
Great thanks to the Save San Onofre Coalition, the thousands of Californians who turned out for the two San Diego-area hearings on the toll road, and YOU, for supporting CSPF as we waged the battle to save this important state parks.
As we ready those champagne flutes for the toasting, we do so knowing that the story may not yet be over. We anticipate the TCA will try to sue and continuing pushing their ill-fated road. But the tide is clearly against them, and we'll continue to match them, step-for-step, in any future attempts to push the toll road.
For today, though, we celebrate the victory!
Background about the fight to save San Onofre State Beach
Would you give $1.1 Billion to the TCA?
In mid-October, the Save San Onofre Coalition blew the whistle on the TCA's unprecedented $1.1 billion bailout request to the federal government. Under a federal program designed to help all states finance transportation projects, TCA submitted an application for a federal TIFIA (Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act) loan to pay for the consolidation of two troubled toll road agencies and refinance existing private bondholder debt. The loan is being officially pursued by the Transportation Corridor Systems (TCS), a joint powers agency that was formed in 2003 and combines both the Foothill-South TCA and San Joaquin Hills TCA, for the purpose of exercising common powers. This application has been called into question by Senator Barbara Boxer, who sent a letter urging it not be approved, and is the subject of an active blog by the Los Angeles Times.
The California State Parks Foundation and our partners in the Save San Onofre Coalition are opposed to this loan application on several grounds, including:
1. The TCS's loan request would pay for the consolidation of two underperforming toll road agencies and allow them to refinance their $4.6 billion in existing debt. Contrary to the purpose of the TIFIA program, the loan has no direct connection to and would not require the agencies to construct any new transportation facilities.
2. The $1.1 billion loan, if approved, would be the largest in the TIFIA program's 10-year history, would consume roughly half of the annual loan capacity for the program and would divert funding from other projects here in California and throughout the nation that are a high priority for producing new transportation infrastructure and jobs.
3. The TCS has mislead the public regarding its toll roads by claiming that they would support themselves financially, and that taxpayers would never be asked to assume the risk of their failure. Now it is clear that the toll roads are falling far short of projected usage and revenues. TCS has responded by seeking a massive federal bailout that would put more than a billion dollars of taxpayer money at risk.
Don't think the federal government should bail out the TCA and agree to this boondoggle? Take a moment and add your thoughts to the Los Angeles Times' blog. For more information about the TIFIA loan request, see the information packet developed by the Save San Onofre Coalition.
September 22 Commerce Hearing Update
Score another one for San Onofre advocates! Supporters of protecting San Onofre State Beach from the Foothill-South toll road turned out in strong force in Del Mar again, this time the venue was a public hearing in front of representatives of the U.S. Department of Commerce. On September 22, more than 3,000 stayed for a day-long meeting to make their voices – or more accurately, their thumbs – heard! Participants were continually exorted not to applaud or make noise supporting or opposing speakers, but to give a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" when speakers were at the podium. Although 657 people were on the list of individuals requesting to address the panel, only 228 were able to do so. Most of the speakers were representatives of local governments or organizations, though more members of the public were able to speak than previously expected. Overall, the crowd was more pro-San Onofre than it was pro-toll road – THANK YOU to everyone who took the time to come out and support the park!
FATE OF SAN ONOFRE STATE BEACH IN U.S. COMMERCE DEPARTMENT ACTION
Despite the overwhelming decision of the California Coastal Commission in February 2008 to block a toll road through San Onofre State Beach, the toll road backers continue to push to build their ill-conceived road through the heart of the 5th most-visited state park in California. The Transportation Corridor Agencies (TCA) have appealed the Commission's strong decision to the U.S. Department of Commerce, which has authority to review Coastal Zone Management Act decisions by states.
The Commerce Agency will be reviewing whether to uphold the Commission's strong decision, or to deny their action and allow the destructive toll road to be build through the heart of San Onofre State Beach. Reviewing the Coastal Commission's decision, though, is not a difficult task, when you consider this excerpt from the staff report: "it would be difficult to imagine a more environmentally damaging alternative location for the proposed toll road."
To date, thousands of Californians have written the Department of Commerce, demanding their support for the clear and unambiguous decision of the Coastal Commission. They've been joined by state and federal elected officials, environmental organizations and Californians up and down the state who recognize the dangerous precedent this decision would set. (See "additional resources" for more information.)
BACKGROUND
A joint powers agency in Orange County (the Transportation Corridor Agencies) is proposing to build a six-lane toll road through the heart of San Onofre State Beach. San Onofre State Beach, located in San Diego County, is the state's fifth most-visited state park in the 278-unit system. The 2,000-acre park contains 3.5 miles of beaches and six access trails to the ocean bluffs. The park includes the world-famous surfing spot Trestles Beach, San Mateo Wetlands Natural Preserve, San Onofre Bluffs Campground, and San Mateo Campground.
Under the proposal, almost 320 acres of park land (about 24% of the park) would be lost to the footprint of the toll road, with an additional 63 acres lost during construction. Public access between the beach area and the campground would be impossible, as the proposed road would cut the park in half, and potentially into smaller parcels. A new toll road would encourage development on currently undeveloped land, creating greater pressures on areas around remaining park lands, and would have the following additional impacts:
- Permanently close 60% of the park;
- Destroy endangered wildlife habitat;
- Degrade world-renowned Trestles surf-beach;
- Force abandonment of 161-unit San Mateo campground, cutting off a low-cost vacation/recreation resource;
- Irreparably damage Native American burial sites; and
- Disrupt San Mateo Creek and send polluted runoff into one of the last unspoiled watersheds in the region.
PREVIOUS DEVELOPMENTS
February 2008
On February 6th, the California Coastal Commission dealt a decisive blow to the Transportation Corridor Agency's plans to build a toll road through the heart of San Onofre State Beach. In an historic decision, the Commission voted 8 to 2 to deny a federal consistency permit to the TCA, stopping the toll road dead in its tracks. The coalition of groups working to save the park, including CSPF and NRDC, the Sierra Club, Defenders of Wildlife, Endangered League, Surfrider Foundation, Audubon California, The City Project and the California Coastal Protection Network, made a powerful presentation to the Commission that clearly showed how this environmentally destructive project did not—and could not—comply with the Coastal Zone Management Act. The points made in the presentation were echoed by the many members of the public who spoke, and the many hundreds more who attended but did not speak. It is estimated that over 3,000 people turned out to participate in the hearing process, the largest turnout in the Commission's 36-year history.
Click here to see over 500 people asking the California Coastal Commission to save San Onofre SB on YouTube!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Our Partners
Save San Onofre Coalition
Save Trestles Campaign
Friends of the Foothills
Natural Resources Defense Council
Maps
Proposed Toll Road Through San Onofre State Beach
Proposed Toll Road Through San Onofre and Donna O'Neill Land Conservancy
Resources
Letter from Barbara Boxer opposing the $1.1 Billion loan
Letter from California Treasurer Bill Lockyer to U.S. Federal Highway Administration re: need for new environmental review of toll road proposal (6-25-08)
Letter from California state legislators to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez (4-14-08)
Letter from California Congressional delegation to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez (4-14-08)
Letter from California Luietenant Governor John Garamendi and State Senate leaders to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez (4-7-08)
Letter from California Treasurer Bill Locker to U.S. Department of Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez (4-4-08)
Letter from California Parks and Recreation Commission to California Coastal Commission opposing toll road (1-25-08)
Letter from statewide environmental groups to California Coastal Commission opposing toll road (1-22-08)
CONTACT
Traci Verardo-Torres
Director of Legislation and Policy
California State Parks Foundation
916-442-2119
advocacy@calparks.org | 
