[speeders] Heritage Lost

[r.recks@juno.com]

* The fix was in; We lost a piece of history

THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE    
SATURDAY November 9, 2002
Abandoned rail line loses its historic credentials
By Amy Oakes  STAFF WRITER

A state board yesterday reversed its earlier decision 
to designate an abandoned rail line running from 
National City to Imperial Beach a historic resource.
The ruling was a victory for Chula Vista and San 
Diego Unified Port District officials who feared 
designating the line a historic resource would 
hinder future development along Chula Vista's 
bayfront.
At a hearing in Riverside, the state Historic 
Resources Commission voted 5-3 to remove the 
stretch of the San Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway 
known as the Coronado Line from the state historic 
register. The commission found that the 7.5-mile 
strip of track lacked historic and architectural 
significance.
“We are very happy with the decision,'' said Chris 
Salomone, Chula Vista's Community Development 
director. "It was pretty contentious."  Preservationists 
said the line, which was built in 1888, was a valuable 
historic asset.
"It's clearly historic," said Bruce Coons, executive 
director of Save Our Heritage Organization, or SOHO, 
which bused supporters to the hearing. 'There’s not a 
historic group in San Diego that didn't support it."

Panel pulls its earlier endorsement

The nine-member state commission had designated 
the Coronado line a historic resource in February and 
upheld the decision in May.
The line was part of a 21.5-mile portion of the San 
Diego & Arizona Eastern Railway, which ran from 
downtown San Diego through Imperial Beach to 
Coronado. Today; much of it is unused and sections 
of it have been paved over.
The Metropolitan Transit Development Board manages 
the line and a private firm, Rail America, operates it.
It became a dividing point in the South Bay because 
Chula Vista and the port wanted to remove the line to 
develop the bayfront. Chula Vista even voted in 1999 
to publicly support removing the line.
National City officials and train enthusiasts wanted to 
preserve the railway right of way
for future use, perhaps for a dinner train, though repairs 
to what is left of the track would be costly. SOHO 
sponsored the proposal for the historic designation.
Salomone said there are no plans to remove the tracks. 
However, a historic designation could complicate the 
environmental review process as projects are 
developed on the bay-front.
Salomone said a new report submitted for yesterday's 
hearing to the commission -- all but two members 
where on the panel that voted for the historic 
designation in February-- said it would not be 
economically beneficial to preserve the line and that 
much of the track had been rebuilt.
"All of the parts of the railroad had been replaced," 
Salomone said. "Nothing from the turn of the century 
is still there."
Coons said his preservation organization, which 
sponsored the proposal for historic designation,
will review its options. The group also might apply 
for local historic designation.
"We will exhaust all possible options," Coons said.

Amy Oakes: (619) 498-6633; amy.oakes®uniontrib.com

*PS: Two members of the Commission admitted
that Governer Grey Davis interviened.

________________________________________________________________
Sign Up for Juno Platinum Internet Access Today
Only $9.95 per month!
Visit www.juno.com