Checking the blogs it sounds like Monday’s hearing was a success!
According to the Surfrider Foundation about 3000 people showed up and made an impression on the decision makers.
The Secretary of Commerce will make his decision between Oct 24, 2008 and January 7 2009. Surfrider is happy because that gives everyone more time to contact the the Feds and demand they uphold the Coastal Commission’s decision to protect San Onofre State Beach. You have until Oct 2 to submit comments.
This just in from the Surfrider Foundation:
Get ready! It’s time to gather and save Trestles. A public hearing for the appeal of the 241 Toll Road will be held next Monday, Sept 22, and we need you there! Remember that in February the CA Coastal Commission turned down the application to build a massive toll road through San Onofre State Beach, threatening the integrity of this popular and wondrous natural resource. The TCA has appealed that decision to the US Commerce Dept. and they will be here Monday to hear from you.
We need you to bring your friends and family! As we saw at the Coastal Commission hearing, when over 3,000 people show up and demand protection of San Onofre and Trestles, decision makers listen! We cannot let the Bush administration overturn a decision that has already been made in California.
Hopefully you have had a chance to read the hearing procedures: click here Hand-held signs need be no bigger than 13 x 22 inches. Surfrider will be setting up sign-making stations to ensure everyone has “the right sized signs”; and we’ll also be passing out signs already made.
Since the hearing will go ‘all day’, we are creating interactive stations and planning fun activities outside the hearing (such as, face painting for the kids, frisbee, hacky sack, and of course letter writing stations)! If you can’t come for the entire day, please stop by for a bit–just coming for an hour or two CAN make a difference–at this point, public pressure is key to stopping this toll road.
At the hearing, there will be “drop boxes” for letters and we need to fill them up! If you have friends who cannot come, please let them know you can hand-deliver a letter for them. If you had previously requested to speak at the hearing, as required, we will have a schedule of speaker times by the end of the week.
Surfrider, and our partners, will be providing supporters with tee shirts and other goodies (first come, first served). We understand many of you will be at the hearing all day and we want to help keep you nourished and fray some of the costs associated with coming to the hearing. We will have a limited amount of food coupons that we can give to those who need it. Since we are a nonprofit, it’s hard to feed everyone, but we do want to make sure that our supporters are taken care of and have sustained energy to be at the hearing all day. Upon arriving, please check in at the welcome booth to receive your tee shirts and food coupons.
While we do NOT expect a final decision on Monday, a solid showing of public support for Trestles is critical; as we saw with the Coastal Commission!
If you absolutely cannot make it to the hearing, be sure to provide the Commerce Dept. by sending a letter fee and easily online, and stay up to date at www.savetrestles.org
On June 25, the Secretary of Commerce announced that a public hearing regarding the controversial 241 Toll Road extension is scheduled to take place July 25 at the Bren Center on the campus of UC Irvine. This hearing marks the next battle between the Transportation Corridor Authority (TCA) and opponents over the continuation of the road, which would lead to the closure of the popular campgrounds at San Onofre State Park and spoiling of the San Mateo Creek.
In addition to drastically effecting San Onofre State Beach and the San Mateo Creek, the proposed toll road expansion will damage sacred Native American sites and the 9,000 year old Village of Panhe, devastate the habitats of several endangered species, impair the waves at Trestles and reduce access to surrounding surf breaks all while setting a dangerous precedent for the California State Park system.
“We are looking forward to the Department of Commerce hearing,” says Mark Rauscher, Assistant Environmental Director for the Surfrider Foundation. “The Department of Commerce has already heard from the experts, now it is time for them to hear directly from the public how the TCA’s proposed alignment for the Foothill-South Toll Road is fundamentally flawed.”
The fight against the toll road has been going on for several years, with its most notable victory this past February when the California Coastal Commission struck down the proposed six-lane highway on grounds that it violates the Coastal Act. Over 3,000 people opposing the toll road attended the fourteen-hour hearing, making it the largest in the Commission’s history. With the Department of Commerce hearing fast approaching, toll road opponents are anticipating a similarly large turnout so the Federal Government can see first hand how many people are invested in protecting a State Park and a pristine watershed. The Surfrider Foundation, along with its coalition partners, want to ensure the Federal Government upholds important California environmental laws and supports the Coastal Commission decision.
On the day of the event, the Surfrider Foundation along with other groups opposing the extension of the 241 Toll Road will be running busses to transport supporters to and from the hearing.
For more information on the Save Trestles Campaign, go to www.savetrestles.org or www.surfrider.org.