CoastWatcher

Ed. Note:  According to the San Diego Union Tribune, the OC Toll Road builders (”TCA”) will appeal to the Bush Administration’s Secretary of Commerce in a last ditch effort to resurrect their South Foothill Toll Road 241 project, even though chances of success are nil.  Even if Bush bows to the TCA and it’s Republican foot soldiers, state and federal environmental laws and additional permits needed from the California Coastal Commission ultimately doom the effort.  TCA is a dead man walking and watching them continue to squirm and flop and waste public taxpayer dollars on their impossible dream is no longer any fun….

Agency will fight commission ruling
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/northcounty/20080208-9999-1m8toll.html
By Terry Rodgers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 8, 2008
Checkmate? Game over?

Many folks believe the proposed Foothill-South freeway project became roadkill Wednesday after the state Coastal Commission rejected it.

But the Irvine-based Transportation Corridor Agencies, which is proposing the toll road that would slice through a habitat reserve and San Onofre State Beach, is determined to resuscitate it.

The toll road agency’s chief counsel, chief executive officer and board chairman decided yesterday to appeal the commission’s ruling to the U.S. secretary of commerce. The paperwork is expected to be filed today. Read the rest of this entry »

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.”
Read the rest of this entry »

Showdown over O.C. tollway is set
The Coastal Commission is to decide Wednesday whether to approve a route through San Onofre State Beach.
By Dan Weikel
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tollway5feb05,1,2934415,full.story?ctrack=2&cset=true
February 5, 2008

In one of the region’s great environmental showdowns, the California Coastal Commission is set to decide Wednesday whether to approve a controversial toll road through San Onofre State Beach — a popular park filled with endangered species, old Indian sites and famous surf spots.

The dispute over the proposed Foothill South tollway in southern Orange County has mushroomed into a statewide conflict over where to draw the line between protecting the environment and building highways to ease traffic congestion. Read the rest of this entry »

Sonar waiver for Navy is ruled invalid by judge

To read the latest decision by U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper about the Navy’s sonar use, go to http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/images/080204sonarruling.pdf

White House panel’s arguments refuted

By Terry Rodgers
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 5, 2008

A federal judge yesterday said White House officials cannot override her order requiring the Navy to take special precautions to protect whales and dolphins from sonar used during its training off Southern California.

In her 36-page ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper in Los Angeles rejected arguments made by the White House’s Council on Environmental Quality. The panel had said the military’s need to conduct sonar exercises constituted an emergency that warranted an exemption from the National Environmental Policy Act. Read the rest of this entry »