Miramar needs tweaking

the following letter was sent to the Los Angeles Times
by the director of Sierra Club’s Coastal Programs, Mark Massara.

Editor, Los Angeles Times
Your story, “Reservations about Miramar Hotel project,“ (July 14, 2008) regarding developer Rick Caruso’s efforts to construct a resort on the beach in Montecito persists with a story line that misses a major defect with the proposal: refusal to remove an unsightly seawall structure on top of the public sandy beach. While it is worth noting that Caruso has managed to manipulate and undermine Santa Barbara’s crippled planning process to avoid needed water quality and other environmental analysis and mitigation, your story fails to mention that even if Caruso succeeds in trampling Santa Barbara’s dysfunctional political culture, he still must comply with the California Coastal Act. And even if Caruso is able to win local approval for hotel rooms and a seawall on the beach from Santa Barbara County, how likely do you think it is that the California Coastal Commission will stick their proverbial head in the sand (or what’s left of it) and allow Caruso to build resort rooms on top of it? While Caruso’s desire to rebuild the historic Miramar Hotel is notable, it doesn’t justify ignoring the reality of global warming, searise and sandless beaches in California. If Caruso were sincerely interested in moving his project along quickly, he should take note of Pacifica Hotels, which has just won approval to rebuild the Sea Coast Inn at Imperial Beach (San Diego Co.), and the owners are moving The hotel back off the sandy beach and removing a seawall in the
process.

MARKMASSARA,Director
Sierra Club Coastal Programs