Ed. Note: On Wednesday approximately 4,000 people attended the California Coastal Commission meeting in Del Mar, San Diego County, to support the Commission’s decision to reject a proposal to build a 16-mile long toll road highway through San Onofre State Beach and miles of open space located in the pristine watersheds behind it. By an 8-2 vote the Coastal Commission rejected the plan and found that it would drive nearly a dozen endangered species of plants and animals toward extinction, and destroy untold habitat, a prized campground, an ancient sacred Native American village site and the world famous surfing resources of Trestles Beach. It was the most people, by far, ever to attend a meeting of California’s coastal protection panel, and the Commissioner’s responded in ways that have made the public proud. Scientist and Commissioner Sara Wan, for example, was able to expertly analyze the faulty, misleading and fraudulent junk science invented by toll road authorities (”TCA”) in support of their project. Wan’s analysis was so devastating that it revealed that what TCA really sought to do was drive endangered species extinct, and not protect or save them in any way.
For a photo gallery of the proceedings, go to http://photos.signonsandiego.com/gallery1.5/toll_road_hearing
For a New York Times story on the events, go to http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/us/08beach.html?scp=1&sq=toll+road&st=nyt
Park Toll Road Plan Rejected in California
Road seen as a threat to wildlife, camping and surfing.
By WILL CARLESS
Published: February 8, 2008
DEL MAR, Calif. — After a marathon public hearing in which hundreds of people spoke, the California Coastal Commission voted late Wednesday to deny approval for a toll road through a popular beach state park.
The 8-to-2 vote against the road, which would bisect California’s fifth-most-visited state park, San Onofre State Beach in north San Diego County, was seen as a significant victory for the region’s environmental movement and a major setback to a 20-year-effort to ease traffic congestion in the increasing sprawl of southern Orange County.
The eight commissioners agreed with the agency’s staff, which had found that the road, to cost an estimated $875 million, would threaten wildlife habitats, camping areas and a cherished surfing beach, Trestles.
“This project drives a stake through the heart of the Coastal Act,” said Commissioner Sara Wan, adding, “This looks like something from the 1950s, not something from the 21st century, when we know how endangered our planet is.”
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