The Dept. of Commerce hearing on the TCA’s request to overturn the Coastal Commission decision has finally been rescheduled for September 22, 10:30 AM to 8:30 PM, at the Del Mar Fairgrounds' O'Brien Hall.

The rules at this hearing are significantly different, and we need your help – and quickly!

First - your attendance at the hearing is critical to show the Dept. of Commerce how strongly the public opposes the Toll Road through San Onofre State Beach.

The hearing before the Coastal Commission in February proved how effective our presence can be.  PLEASE JOIN US ONCE AGAIN IN DEL MAR!

Second – If you wish to speak at the hearing, you need to submit a written request to NOAA at the Dept. of Commerce – which must be sent via US mail or commercial carrier, not fax or email, and must be received at NOAA by Sept. 12.  Only those who submit a written request by the deadline will be granted an opportunity – by the Dept. of Commerce – to speak.  (For additional detail on the rules for this hearing, go to:  http://www.savesanonofre.com/downloads/CommerceHearingFAQs.pdf

Include the information below in your request to speak:

Thomas Street, NOAA Office of General Counsel for Ocean Services
1305 East-West Highway, Room 6111
Silver Spring, MD 20910

Dear Mr. Street,

I wish to speak at the public hearing on September 22 in Del Mar, CA.  I will speak on my own behalf as an individual, not representing an organization.

Thank you,

Name:

Address:

Send your speaking request by mail or overnight delivery to Mr. Street at the address above. Your request must be received by NOAA, in Maryland, no later than close of business on September 12, 2008. 

Feel free to address questions or concerns to:  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Hope to see you at the hearing on the 22nd!!

written by Jerry Collamer

TCA complains, us State-Park-Loving citizens
do protest too much TCA's skewed misinformation
as TCA finagles to pave thru world renowned San Onofre
State Beach Park for a private toll-road to nowhere
few would ever afford at $15 one-way. As gas soars
past $4. This is TCA's answer to relieving OC traffic?
So what's not to scream about?

TCA lawyer Thorton claims booing ensued at Feb. 6th's
Del Mar Coastal Commission's Public Hearing while
TCA's MacLean complains "meeting was chaotic."
Yet it was TCA who bused-in 100's of orange-shirted,
placard-waving "laborers" chanting "Toll Road!,"
clueless to why they were there except for TCA's
free lunch and 8-hour stipend.

MacLean complains the Hearing took place in Del Mar?
In North San Diego County? In a room large enough
to house 3,500 park-loving citizens comfortably (with
a 1000 more outside) for 18-long hours?

But San Onofre State Beach Park sits solely in North
San Diego County - Not OC. Does TCA's wrong-way
MacLean deny geographic reality too?

After 21 traffic boondoggling years, TCA still doesn't
know where it's going. It could make ya'scream.  

The Orange County Transportation Authority has recently released and taken comment on their Major Investment Study which contains proposals for future transportation projects in Southern Orange County.  All of the proposals and projections in this study included the Transportation Corridor Agency’s 241 Foothill South Toll road proposal as a completed fixture in the Orange County transit system by their 2030 study horizon. 

Given that he TCA’s toll road proposal was axed by the California Coastal Commission (who have jurisdiction to approve or deny coastal development in California) on February 6, it would seem that a study presuming its construction is outdated and incomprehensive.  However, the study’s exclusion of projections without the toll road may be a little more insidious than they look at first blush.

Prior to February 6, OCTA’s MIS study was slated to factor the proposed toll road into some of its projections and alternatives.  The study was also to prepare analysis for future OC transportation without the toll road.  It was after the Coastal Commission nixed the toll road that the OCTA board of directors decided to scrap the analysis of the Orange County’s transportation future without the road. 

OCTA’s decision to eliminate analysis of Orange County without the toll road after the the toll road project’s rejection reeks of fowl play.  The study’s exclusion of the most likely scenario relative to the toll road must have been intended to be argumentative in favor of the toll road.  A decision I’d wager was primarily initiated by the several board members who sit on both the OCTA and TCA boards of directors. 

This hole in OCTA’s MIS study obstructs the view of Orange County’s transportation future and perpetrates an egregious waste of the taxpayers’ money that went to fund the study.

Marty Benson

The Save San Onofre Coalition would like to thank each and every individual who took the time to write the Coastal Commission or attended the hearing. It's because of people like YOU that we continue our fight to Save the Park and Stop the Toll Road.

We have been receiving countless, heartfelt letters over the past few weeks. The letters really put this project into perspective and Californians dedication to preserve our environment.

I would like to present one letter in specific, from the La Joya community. Leslie A. Mayo is a 72 year-old resident who as a teen frequented the San Onofre State Beach. Her letter, as well as many others we received, show how much history this park has and reminds us why it's so special to so many of us.

Leslie A. Mayo Letter

Welcome to the newly redesigned webpage for Save San Onofre, and to our new blog!

We hope this new design will be more interactive for our supporters and will make it easier to get out the truth about San Onofre and the damage that will be done by the TCA’s proposed toll road.