SURFING GROUP WINS SAY IN PLAN.

Byline: David Greenberg Daily News Staff Writer

Area surfers in a territorial mood persuaded the Ventura County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday to include them in plans to transform the Mobil Piers beach into a public recreation area.

The Coastal Preservation Research Foundation, a surfers advocacy group, opposes the county's plans to construct a parking lot for 110 cars and 10 recreational vehicles by the beach.

``When the piers go, we think the waves won't be there anymore,'' said Glen Hening, a foundation board member. ``What we're doing is researching ways to maintain the place as a surfing resource.''

The Oxnard organization's vision is on a more grandiose scale: a $550,000 ``surfing park'' that would include a oceanside promenade, parking on the opposite side of the Ventura Freeway and a submerged artificial reef that would make waves.

The state has, since the 1930s, leased the nearly mile-long stretch of beach to Mobil Oil Corp. for its offshore drilling operations.

The oil giant stopped pumping from the site a couple of years ago and is seeking state approval to dismantle its dilapidated piers, located approximately 10 miles north of Ventura Harbor.

Although county supervisors and parks officials said they are open to the foundation's ideas, they are holding firm on their plans to construct a parking lot adjacent to the beach and charge fees.

Gary Ross, foundation president, said his organization had hoped to put the parking lot on the north side of the Ventura Freeway, so it would be out of the view of beachgoers.

To eliminate concerns about handicapped accessibility, the foundation planned to build a cul-de-sac ramp leading down to the beach.

``I would prefer to keep it a beautiful, pristine beach,'' said Ross.

Ross estimates that the reef - a Y-shape, 150-foot-long, polyethylene structure - will cost $350,000 to build and submerge.

``It's all been engineered to withstand the 100-year storm with a safety factor beyond that,'' he said.

Construction of the promenade would cost an additional $200,000, contingent upon Mobil making an anticipated in-kind donation of the wood beams from the pier, valued at another $200,000.

To pay for the project, Ross said he is seeking donations, foundation grants and sponsorship from the surfing industry.

The county, using a $100,000 grant already secured from Mobil, would pay for area upgrades, including the parking lot, not included in the research foundation's cost estimates.

Parking fees and concessions would generate an estimated $54,000 annually - roughly the cost of maintaining the recreation area.

``The vision is beautiful but the vision has a price tag on it,'' said Supervisor Kathy Long.

Self-sufficiency is the only way the parks department can afford to lease the beach area from the state, county officials said.

Earlier this month, the supervisors voted to strip the department of its $800,000 annual subsidy from the Channel Islands Harbor Department.

Parks officials are drawing from cash reserves to maintain its $3 million operating budget.

``As we develop new properties, we need to be sensitive to the cost and revenues associated with these properties,'' said Blake Boyle, the county parks manager. ``The key consideration is can we maintain this Mobil Piers park on a break-even basis?''

The research foundation has asked the state Coastal Commission to force Mobil to pay for the reef in exchange for a permit to dismantle them.

But Alison Dettmer, the state's energy and ocean resources unit supervisor, said her office views the piers as an incidental public benefit, not one designed to create waves. When the commission meets Dec. 10, she said, she will recommend that it not attach the compensation request to the pier removal permit.

The foundation needs permits from the land and coastal commissions to submerge the reef.

Mobil hopes to dismantle the piers by August. The county, in turn, wants the improvements complete by early 1999.