Judge denies request to return residents to Crystal Cove

Paul Clinton

CRYSTAL COVE -- An Orange County Superior Court judge has dismissed a

legal challenge to the state’s eviction of the former tenants of Crystal

Cove State Park.

In a ruling Thursday, Superior Court Judge Francisco Firmat repudiated

a lawsuit brought by the environmental group Crystal Cove Community Trust

that could have led to the residents’ return.

In his ruling, Firmat rejected the trust’s assertion that the tenants

were an integral part of preserving the heritage of the 46 beachfront

cottages.

“There is evidence of deterioration, neglect and even vandalism that

would negate the assertion that these tenants were careful, loving

stewards,” Firmat wrote in the ruling.

The former residents left their homes on July 8, several months after

agreeing with California State Parks to do so.

Parks officials had been trying to remove the tenants and open up the

quaint cottages to the public since buying the parkland from the Irvine

Co. in 1979. Three lawsuits filed by the former residents and leading to

legal victories kept stalling that process.

On Thursday, State Parks Spokesman Roy Stearns said the ruling should

end all doubts about whether the residents would ever return to their

dwellings.

“This removes the last hurdle toward finally working toward full

public access of Crystal Cove,” Stearns said. “We have felt all along

that the case did not have merit.

Early next year, parks officials have said they will present a

tentative plan for the future of the cottages, which were placed on the

National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Trust co-founder Bruce Hostetter said he has not decided whether to

appeal Firmat’s ruling.

“The ruling came as a surprise and disappointment, and we are

considering our options,” Hostetter said.

Hostetter, who filed his suit in early August, also accused the state

of failing to provide adequate environmental analysis of the decision to

evict the residents. Firmat rejected that contention.

Hostetter also said in the suit that the residents were an integral

part of the culture of the cove, which blossomed when earlier tenants set

up tents on the beach and built distinctive, funky shacks.

But the tenants evicted in July “do not constitute the culture of the

‘20s and ‘30s,” Firmat wrote.

Jeannette Merrilees, a Laguna Beach activist and retired attorney who

has lobbied the state to open the cottages to the public, lauded the

decision.

“It knocks out any chance the tenants will return,” Merrilees said.

“It’s a vindication of State Parks’ position that we weren’t going to get

much done until the tenants left.”