REGION: Toll road hearing may be canceled

UC Irvine backs out when attendance estimates reach 10,000

By DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | Monday, July 14, 2008 7:13 PM PDT ∞

A much-anticipated federal hearing this month on an appeal of California's rejection of a San Onofre toll road may be canceled.

The reason? The Irvine venue that planned to host the hearing has backed out after receiving indications that the crowd size could top 10,000 people.

And federal officials, who have been asked to overturn the state decision, said Monday that they might not reschedule the event.

Officials say they are concerned about possibly breaking their $26,000 budget for a hearing by moving to a larger facility that can accommodate that many people.

A coalition of environmental groups that opposes the toll road dismissed that concern. They fired off a three-page letter Monday urging the federal government to reschedule the hearing for a later date in a larger auditorium.

"This is not a decision that should be made behind closed doors," said Joel Reynolds, senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of the groups.

In February, the California Coastal Commission judged the toll road inconsistent with federal and state laws protecting the fragile coastal environment, sending a clear signal that if the project proponent were to apply for a permit to build, it would be denied.

The proponent, Irvine-based Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency, appealed the ruling to the U.S. Commerce Department.

The agency had the option of appealing to the Commerce secretary because a portion of the road would run on federal land ---- Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base.

The project is a 16-mile extension of an existing toll road, Highway 241, that would extend from Rancho Santa Margarita to the San Diego-Orange county line.

The southernmost four miles would cross San Onofre State Beach, California's fifth most popular state park and home to the Trestles Beach surfing area.

The state commission concluded that construction would push some endangered species to the brink of extinction and warned that the road's presence would alter the flow of cobbles in San Mateo Creek that are considered the primary source of Trestles' world-class waves.

The road-building agency dismissed those concerns, and emphasized the four-lane road would take pressure off busy Interstate 5 in southern Orange County.

It was the proposed portion of the highway on state parkland that triggered a tide of opposition from surfers, environmentalists and park lovers, many of whom jammed a pavilion at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in February to denounce the project.

Perhaps, ironically, it also was the park that provided a road for an appeal. The park is on land leased from Camp Pendleton.

Based on the estimated crowd of 3,000 to 3,500 people at the fairgrounds, the Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration was anticipating approximately that many people at its July 25 hearing in a UC Irvine auditorium. And federal officials made plans to accommodate up to 5,000 people.

But UC Irvine officials pulled back their offer to host the event after determining that the crowd would more than double the 4,758-person capacity of its Bren Events Center.

"We started getting calls like, 'Where can we get lunch for 500 people?' and 'Where can our buses park?' " said Cathy Lawhon, a university spokeswoman. "It began to look like this was something that was going to cause a lot more traffic and policing and parking headaches than we thought. And we decided that we couldn't handle it."

Lawhon said the center is next to a campus housing area where a student-parent orientation is planned for the same day.

Jane C. Luxton, general counsel for the federal agency, said moving to another facility on the same day would present problems because costs for crowd control and building rental could exceed the agency's budget and advance notice is required by law for such events.

"We are currently assessing options, but if these issues cannot be resolved in the near future, the July 25 hearing may need to be canceled," Luxton wrote in a letter Friday.

And a later hearing may not happen, either.

"If the costs substantially exceed the amount budgeted, we will not be able to conduct a public hearing," said Anson Franklin, a Commerce spokesman, by e-mail Monday.

According to Luxton, the agency budgeted $17,500 for security and $8,500 for building rental, for a total of $26,000.

But, in their letter, environmentalists suggested the Del Mar Fairgrounds might prove to be an affordable alternative. They noted it worked for the Coastal Commission last winter.

Mark Delaplaine, a staff analyst for the commission, suggested cost is not an issue because Foothill/Eastern paid the rent and security associated with that earlier hearing, and federal law allows for assessing applicants the cost of hearings in appeals.

Jennifer Seaton, a spokeswoman for Foothill/Eastern, said her agency spent $15,000 for rental and crowd control for the all-day hearing at the fairgrounds.

Both sides expressed disappointment at the prospect of not having a federal hearing.

Seaton said the Bren Center would have been a "great location" because it is close to south Orange County communities that suffer from traffic congestion and would benefit from a new road.

"So we're disappointed that it didn't work out," Seaton said.

Stefanie Sekich, coordinator of Surfrider Foundation's Save Trestles Campaign, said she was disappointed, too. But she said it was encouraging that as many as 10,000 people had been planning to attend.

"We view this as a great thing, because it shows how contentious this project is," she said.

Foothill/Eastern officials initially suggested a hearing was unnecessary because opponents had a chance to speak during the lengthy commission meeting.

But opponents argued they deserved the right to speak out to federal officials as well as state officials.

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 745-6611, Ext. 2623, or ddowney@nctimes.com.

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