PUNTING BRIDGES:

Slow-burning plans to build a bridge at the often washed-out
Gaviota State Park creek crossing near Hollister Ranch were dealt
yet another blow last week when the Coastal Commission decided to
hold off a ruling on the matter until a public hearing later this
summer. Though the county-designed $3.9 million project has been
approved by county supervisors and the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, appeals of protest have been filed by the state Parks
Department, the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and local
organizations such as the Gaviota Conservancy and the Urban Creeks
Council. Opponents say the elevated bridge and associated several
hundred foot-long rock and dirt embankment will have adverse
effects on the creek, and the project should be moved north to a
narrower area of the creek.