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transmogrified into an attack on the Commission, itself. Would such a marker be a magnet for "bad elements", and promote irritating, loud ceremonies? Such was the stirring tone of the Council, echoing a few local residents who had been primed by a selective letter they received. One Council person boldly declared that he "did not have much faith in the Coastal Commission", and another read from the grading plan, confusing the issue of site security with archaeology. According to the fantasy of the CCC detractors, the Commission, in its lordly disdain for the interests of poor burghers, has placed an onerous condition on top of Seal Beach: the crazy idea that public access would mean that the monument, and the park in which it is situated, must be ungated day and night. This would mean that the CCC was REQUIRING that Seal Beach leave open the park, day and night, even when the park is closed. CCC staff could put an end to this controversy with a word to the befuddled Council, which is currently stalled. Fear led the Council to postpone siting of the interpretive center, the last piece of the "mitigation plan". If delayed, it could push the Commission's formal approval of the memorial cemetery, the reduced number of houses, and so on, past the next (Aug. 6-8) meeting in Huntington Beach. After that, the Commission meets in faraway Eureka, which would preclude many working and lower-income folks from attending. But does the CCC really require that the park, and the proposed memorial, be open to public access at all hours of the day and night? A careful reading of the text of the permit seems to show that the Commission was much more reasonable than its detractors. --------------------------------- The actual wording of "Special Condition 17", which is being used to torpedo approval, does NOT seem to validate the detractors of the CCC. It does NOT seem to be that the park entrance must be left open, ungated, day and night, even when the park is not open. Judge for yourself: The Interpretive Center is not related to the Native American cemetery, separately dedicated on another part of the property. It is an additional gift to the City, and the Tribe, from John Laing Homes. How that came to be, is not now relevant to this issue. Its presence, or absence, is also not relevant to the overall problem of security on the site. It sits in the new, eastern addition to the park, which is accessible from the new 10 car parking lot just off Seal Beach Blvd. PARK
ONLY OPEN DAWN TO DUSK This is in uniformity with the existing gate on the Avalon St. (West) entrance, which is LOCKED after the park is closed. Both gates should be locked, and open, at the same time, or so logic would seem to dicate. It would seem this new gate would also be locked when the park is closed. But CCC detractors in Seal Beach claim that another special condition FORCES them to leave the park's eastern entrance open, at all times of the day and night. But does it? FRONTAGE
UNOBSTRUCTED DOES NOT MEAN PARK LEFT OPEN An obvious interpretation would be that the entrance must not be obstructed during the times when the public is permitted, that is, dawn to dusk. Not obstructed when the park is open. It seems odd to that the intent of the Commission would be that people could wander in at 4 AM. That would disturb the roosting Herons, who take off from their trees with an awful, angry, "croaking" roar. They don't really have any other place. So why would anyone think that it was the CCC intention to "punish" Seal Beach, and the Herons, by leaving the park open all night? Give the odd idea all the benefit of the doubt. Assume the intention of the Commission was indeed to leave the parking lot off Seal Beach Blvd. open in the wee hours even though it serves no venue when the park is closed. Assume, against all logic, the parking lot must remain ungated at all times, day and night, so that cars can pull into it at, say, 2 in the morning. Even under that assumption, Condition 17(g)(1) does NOT require that the Park itself be open, ungated and accessible at any time of day and night. Special Condition 17g does not mention the park entrance at all, only mentioning the "frontage" along Seal Beach Blvd., which is not the same as the park entrance off the new parking lot. It would seem that the park would be closed and, presumably, locked during the times that it is not open. After all, even in Seal Beach, that's the import of "closed", i.e., "not open". And public access means under the conditions, dawn to dusk. It seems odd if the Commission were to require the impossible, and that's why the Commission may be seen to look bad in this context. So the gate on the new, eastern entrance to the park itself is not even mentioned in the CDP language. Hence, it would seem that this new gate is obviously not, therefore, forbidden, even if the city were to decide to leave an empty parking lot for late-night visitation. Common sense would call for a gate across both, just as at the Western entrance, but common sense may not be operative here. If it were the intention of the Commission to make the park open at all times, day and night, to the public, they would probably not have designated it as "a passive recreational nature park". And why then would they not require that the other entrance be opened up after the bars close, also? This false claim would be laughable, except that it is holding up CCC consideration of the Mitigation Plan and the Settlement Agreement to the lawsuit. You can ask the Commission to please clarify the issue, so that Seal Beach will, or will not, be justified in proposing this very disingenuous interpretation of the Permit, and of the intent of the Commission. A lot is at stake. Call Mr. Karl Schwing, Sr. Coastal Analyst, 562-590-5071 Seal
Beach Council: /Doug Back to T.O.C. 3
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