Trestles hits bumps as further protection looms

Environment Updates

Senators raise questions before Trestles gets further protection

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 6 February, 2013 : - - A new dispute has erupted over protecting Trestles just three days before a state commission decides whether to recommend it for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

Two Republican senators are questioning whether a now-retired state Department of Parks and Recreation employee was carrying out a “personal agenda” at taxpayer expense in helping the Surfrider Foundation apply for the designation for Trestles in north San Diego County.

Sens. Mark Wyland of Solana Beach and Mimi Walters of Irvine say a listing would create another barrier for the Orange County-based Transportation Corridor Agencies as the joint powers authorities continue to pursue a stalled plan to extend the state Route 241 toll road south to San Onofre State Beach and Trestles.

It also could impede training at Camp Pendleton, the senators said. But the state parks department said a historic designation does not prevent military use of the land. Mark Rauscher, coastal preservation manager for the Surfrider Foundation in San Clemente, said the parks employee was just doing his job. The state parks department agreed.

The state Historic Resources Commission, an arm of the parks department, is expected to take up the application by the Surfrider Foundation on Friday. Surfrider’s application argues that Trestles is an important landmark and embedded in California’s surf culture, thereby worthy of a designation. Critics say that claim of importance is exaggerated.

In a joint announcement, Wyland and Walters say that in 2008 Wayne Donaldson urged the Coastal Commission to block the toll road application. Donaldson, until his Sept. 28 retirement, was the state historic preservation officer holding a key role in processing designation requests.

Donaldson “has made no secret of his desire to use his state post and taxpayer resources to create a roadblock,” the senators said. Wyland and Walters want the state parks department to release calendar entries and other material that could reveal his alleged cooperation with the Surfrider Foundation and other toll road critics

Read the full article at UT San Diego

Source: UT San Diego

Author: Michael Gardner

Tags: Trestles, Historic Places, Toll Road

Environment: Surfersvillage