UPDATE: The “Hands Across the Toll Road” event scheduled for Saturday, July 19th is canceled.

The July 25th hearing on the 241 Toll Road has been postponed by UC Irvine’s Bren Center, due to officials’ estimates that more than 10,000 San Onofre State Beach supporters would show up, overwhelming the facility, according to the Surfrider Foundation.

The Secretary of Commerce has not rescheduled the public hearing, according to Matt McClain, Surfrider’s director of marketing and communications.

“If this issue is so large that we’ve outgrown the Bren Center - a huge facility - then how can people say that we don’t deserve to be heard?” McClain said. “All this illustrates is the fact that this is not an issue that’s going to go away. People are really passionate about this and the Secretary of Commerce’s office needs to give them a chance to be heard.”

McClain and the Surfrider Foundation encourage people to get involved by writing to the Commerce Department to demand a rescheduled public hearing. If you’re looking for more ways to get involved with the Save Trestles campaign, Transworld Business has compiled a RESOURCE PAGE of events and contact information.

Here is an official press release, posted Saturday, July 12, from Surfridersd.org:

We were informed this weekend that UC Irvine’s Bren Center will NOT play host to the Commerce Department’s public hearing on the 241 Toll Road on July 25th. They feared that the turnout from supporters of San Onofre State Beach and Trestles would overwhelm the facilities at UCI, estimating that over 10,000 of you would show up.

Clearly there is strong community opposition to this destructive highway project, and those voices need to be heard. Unfortunately no other venue has been identified, and the Commerce Department has made no definitive decision on how or when to move forward with the hearing. We will keep you informed as the situation develops, but for now we are assuming there will be NO Hearing on July 25th at the Bren Center.

In the meantime, make sure that the Commerce Department knows that you still want the opportunity to be heard. Send an email to Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez demanding that they reschedule the hearing so that he can hear from the community on this issue. Copy and paste the text below or write your own letter, and send it to gcos.comments@noaa.gov

Dear Secretary Gutierrez, You previously promised to hold a hearing in Southern California to gauge the public’s feelings on the proposed 241 Toll Road through San Onofre State Beach. The venue you chose for this hearing felt that the expected crowd was beyond their abilities serve properly. This intense public interest is even more reason for you to follow through on your promise and reschedule the hearing to an appropriate venue at a later date. As a member of the public I deserve the opportunity to have my voice heard on this issue. Please do not silence my voice on this important decision.

Sincerely,

Your Name and Address

We will keep you informed about any changes. Thanks for your continued support to protect Trestles and San Onofre!! Visit our blog for updates: click here.

Your pals at Surfrider,
savetrestles@surfrider.org

Tags: san onofre state beach, save trestles, surfrider, toll road 241 public hearing

This entry was posted on Monday, July 14th, 2008 at 8:46 am and is filed under FEATURES, NEWS. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.