Surfers’ Last Stand Against Marines

It’s a battle pitting the Marines against the surfers, and the surfers aren’t ready to surrender just yet.

Since April, bulldozers and construction crews have invaded San Mateo Point, one of Southern California’s prime surfing locales. But if the brass at Camp Pendleton has its way, it’s going to be the future location of a $10-million Marine officer housing project.

The San Clemente-based Surfrider Foundation, a national ocean and coastal preservation group, has been fighting a losing battle against the project, but it’s not raising the white flag. The group has filed a last-ditch appeal seeking to reverse a judge’s decision that in January allowed the Marines to begin construction. The appeal was filed June 29 with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“David doesn’t always beat Goliath,” said foundation Chairman Mark Cousineau. “To be honest, our best chances of winning were at the trial court. Now, the project’s underway but we think we have great grounds for appeal.”

Plans call for 38 of 60 duplexes to be built by February 1999 on Camp Pendleton’s northwest corner near what was President Nixon’s Western White House. Congress has not yet funded the second phase.

The Surfrider Foundation opposes the military housing site because the 33 acres of oceanfront property at San Mateo Point include a protected wetlands reserve and is near Trestles, a premier surfing area attracting thousands of surfers.

Foundation attorney Thomas P. Davis argued in the appeal that the Marines did not comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and failed to file an environmental impact statement. Davis also contended that the Marines did not answer questions about potential destruction of sensitive wetlands during construction.

“This is a project that could have a significant impact on the environment and it’s required that the agency proposing it file an environmental impact statement,” Davis said. “Instead, the Corps filed a finding of no significant impact and determined that they didn’t need to prepare an environmental impact statement.”

The Marines have not yet responded to the foundation’s appeal, said Marine spokeswoman Gunnery Sgt. Janice Hagar. The Marine Corps has conducted an environmental assessment and found no significant impact, Hagar said.

In addition, Hagar said, the Marines’ assessment was endorsed by the California Coastal Commission and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Marine officials have said that affordable housing for its recruits is needed at Camp Pendleton. More than 1,000 officers and their families are waiting for base housing. Base officials point out that a captain’s housing allowance is nearly $900 and rent for a three-bedroom home in Orange County is about $1,300.

When completed, the upscale duplexes will house between 360 and 600 people. Of the first 76 housing units being built, 70 are two-story with three bedrooms, about 1,650 square feet, and the other six units are two-story, four bedrooms, with about 1,800 square feet. They will be Spanish style with tiled roofs.

Hagar said public access to the state beaches will not be affected.

“Obviously, the housing area is a part of Camp Pendleton,” Hagar said. “But access will be the same as it always was. There will not be an M.P. or a sentry positioned up there.”

Several surfers and beach users interviewed at Trestles recently said that because of the El Nino year, they had concerns about the project’s storm drain system and its possible effect on beach use.

The project’s storm water runoff system was reviewed and approved by the Coastal Commission and U.S. Wildlife Service, Hagar said. She added that it was in accordance with San Diego County standards, “so there’s no threat to the beach or beach users.”

Bryan Ouchi, 33, of Torrance, said he has read about the housing controversy in surf magazines, “but I didn’t think they would be building it by now. I would like it to stay preserved.”

Brian Leonard, 24, of Carlsbad said, “It’s a pristine area and if you consider that Trestles is one of the world’s best surf breaks, you would think the project could have been built on another part of the base. It’s a defeat for Surfrider Foundation, that’s obvious, because it’s happened.”

Cousineau acknowledged that the foundation could have started a public relations campaign earlier. Also, he said the foundation could have criticized the base for seeking the foundation’s support to acquire San Mateo Point after the U.S. Coast Guard left the site.

“Instead, we didn’t,” Cousineau said. “To go up against the federal government and the Marine Corps, especially in this area, is a slim proposition even with a great case. If this was a private developer, it would have been different.”