A proposal to charge the public more to visit San Onofre, San Clemente, Doheny and Crystal Cove state beaches on three summer holidays is on hold because of concerns raised by the California Coastal Commission.

The plan also includes raising the $1-per-hour parking fee at Calafia Beach in San Clemente to $2 an hour during the summer. Calafia is part of San Clemente State Beach.

The fees were proposed by the Orange Coast District of the state parks system and were to have been up for a vote of the Coastal Commission on Feb. 6 at a meeting in Redondo Beach. The proposals were pulled from the agenda for further discussion between Coastal Commission and state parks staff.

"At this point, I can't give you a firm date for when the Coastal Commission will next see this on the agenda," said Jeff Rabin, a coastal program analyst for the commission. He said one concern is the plan to charge $20 on Memorial Day, July 4 and Labor Day without the option of hourly rates on those days. At other times, some parking lots would offer hourly rates.

The normal all-day fee is $15. At Calafia, a requirement to pay the $20 day rate on summer holidays, even for a short visit, would amount to a twentyfold increase from the current $1 hourly charge, Rabin said.

"That's an enormous increase," Rabin said. "So far as I know, there has never been a flat fee at that lot."

Julie Tobin, a planner with state parks, said new parking machines at Calafia offer the option of paying $15 for the day or $1 an hour. "People will pay a whole day to secure a spot on holidays and busy summer days," she said, "but they do enjoy the flexibility of an hourly fee."

She said the parks department is requesting the $20 flat fee for the summer holidays when visitors tend to go for the whole day. The $20 fee also would apply to special events such as surf contests.

Meanwhile, a new machine in a state parking lot at the south end of San Clemente serving Trestles Beach now offers the option of paying $2 an hour, as well as a flat $15 day fee, Tobin said. The machine was out of service over the weekend but has been restored, she said. The $2 hourly option has proved popular, attracting new users to the parking lot, Tobin said.

Contact the writer: fswegles@ocregister.com or 949-492-5127

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Coastal Commission puts beaches' parking-fee increase on hold