REGION: Hearing on controversial toll road set for Monday

Strict rules will govern how public sounds off on federal appeal

By DAVE DOWNEY - Staff Writer | Saturday, September 20, 2008 5:09 PM PDT ∞

DEL MAR ---- The thousands of people who are expected to attend a federal hearing on a proposed San Onofre toll road will face a host of rules designed to prevent a raucous meeting like the one hosted by the state in February.

Attendees will be held to strict time limits for speaking, barred from waving signs and warned against heckling, federal officials say. And hired security officers will be on hand to escort violators out of the building.

Hosted by the U.S. Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the hearing is scheduled to run from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday in O'Brien Hall at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Ben Sherman, a spokesman for the administration, said officials don't know how many people are coming, but 650 have signed up to speak. Given the time allotted for testimony, however, fewer than one-third are likely to get the chance to talk.

An estimated 3,500 attended the earlier California Coastal Commission hearing, which took on a carnival atmosphere with people cheering, chanting, booing and waving signs inside a cavernous fairgrounds meeting hall, and sampling food and passing out pamphlets at booths outside.

That hearing drew surfers and environmentalists who said the project would spoil San Onofre, one of California's most popular state parks and one of the last remaining natural places on the urban Southern California coast.

Some opponents engaged in impromptu shouting matches with construction workers who supported the project. Construction unions were looking for a piece of the $875 million that an Orange County transportation agency would spend to pave the 16-mile highway's first four lanes.

The California Coastal Commission rejected the project, and the Orange County agency is asking the Commerce Department to override the state. The agency had the option of appealing because the park is on leased federal land.

Monday's hearing is intended to give Southern Californians the chance to weigh in on the appeal.

The commission determined that the toll road could hasten the decline of imperiled species, degrade the world-class surfing waves at Trestles Beach and compromise the solitude of a state park campground.

The road agency, noting the beach itself would not be paved, said its scientific consultants have repeatedly found that wildlife would not be harmed and the waves would not be affected. They maintain the campground's solitude already is compromised by the noise from nearby Interstate 5.

As for hearing participants, they will be restricted on the noise they make.

For starters, speakers will be limited to talking for three minutes, and won't be able to cede time to people who want to speak longer.

If someone walks out to take a break just before being called, he or she won't be allowed to speak later.

And if you didn't bother to sign up by Sept. 12, forget about speaking.

"You're past the deadline," said Sherman, the administration spokesman.

If you are one of the 650 who made the deadline, prepare to wait in line behind a parade of elected officials. Area city council members, state and federal lawmakers and others will get first crack at talking ---- and four minutes each to make their points.

Asked why officials will get more time, Sherman said, "The idea is that public officials represent a large group of people as opposed to individuals who represent themselves."

Then again, perhaps you'll want to do your talking through a creative, catchy sign. That's fine, say federal officials, but your sign can be no larger than 13 inches by 24 inches and you must keep it in your lap or hold it in front of your body. No one will be permitted to hoist or wave a sign.

Besides targeting speakers and sign-holders, the rules address overall crowd behavior. "No cheering, booing, heckling or other disruptions will be tolerated," federal officials said, in a four-page paper laying out the ground rules.

"Anyone violating any of these instructions will be asked to leave and escorted from the hearing room," officials said, adding that if the crowd becomes unruly, they may cancel the event.

Contact staff writer Dave Downey at (760) 745-6611, Ext. 2623, or ddowney@nctimes.com.

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REGION: Poll finds support for toll road