Ritz-Carlton Hit With $1.6 Million Fine Over Beach Access
The California Coastal Commission fined one of the swankiest hotels on the Central Coast $1.6 million for a continued pattern of preventing access to a nearby public beach.
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California Fines Unpermitted Luxury Hotel $15.6 Million
Sending a message about the value of maintaining affordable visitor accommodations along California’s coast, the state’s Coastal Commission on Wednesday issued its largest fine ever — $15.58 million — to a luxury hotel owner that demolished two affordable motels in Santa Monica to build a high-priced property near the world-famous pier.
Read moreJudge Declines Review of Freeze on California Offshore Fracking Permits
A federal judge on Tuesday declined to reconsider his ruling that bars the Trump administration from issuing offshore drilling permits without first conducting environmental review, rejecting an oil company’s request for review.
Read moreCommission Adopts Environmental Justice Guidelines
Low-income communities and people of color will enjoy fuller access to California’s beaches thanks to the California Coastal Commission’s adoption of an environmental justice policy Friday that will provide clear guidelines for development projects along the Pacific Coast.
Read moreCalifornia Beach Watchdog Touts Public Access Enforcement Tool
No parking signs placed strategically by Santa Cruz residents to cordon off public parking for their own use have come down. In Malibu, a chain link fence that runs from a sprawling mansion down into the ocean past the mean high tide line has been removed, restoring access to picturesque portion of Portuguese Bend. In San Diego, an outdoor shower that cut off public access to a beach was demolished.
Read moreCalifornia Intent on Public Access for Beach in Ritzy Enclave
In no uncertain terms, members of the California Coastal Commissioner put property owners in a wealthy enclave north of Los Angeles on notice that their days of blocking the public from accessing an 8-mile stretch of pristine coast will soon be over.
Read moreCoastal Commission Settles 33-Year Fight Over Lagoon Trail
The California Coastal Commission got a reprieve from its typically hotly contested enforcement of the Coastal Act by homeowners Wednesday when it amicably settled a 33-year dispute over a lagoon access trail in Carlsbad, California.
Read moreAppeals Court Sides With Coastal Commission on Beach Hotel Project
A state appeals court has upheld the California Coastal Commission’s decision to require affordable accommodations in connection to a proposed 175-room hotel on the San Diego Bay.
Read moreCalifornia Coastal Commission Eyes Beefing Up Beach Access for All
With hundreds of miles of picturesque and accessible coastline, California has an abundance of beaches for all of its 39 million residents plus tourists to enjoy. But while the state’s constitution guarantees a public right of beach access and there are over 1,000 access points statewide, low-income and minority communities have long struggled to connect with the Golden State’s majestic shoreline.
Read moreJudge Awards Nearly $1M Over Failed Coastal Commission Disclosures
A state court judge heard arguments Friday over his initial finding a San Diego environmental attorney should be awarded nearly $1 million in attorney’s fees for successfully bringing claims in a novel case against the California Coastal Commission over failed disclosures.
Read moreCalifornia Homeowners Fined $1 Million in Seawall Fight
The California Coastal Commission slapped a Laguna Beach homeowner with a $1 million fine Thursday for remodeling a pre-Coastal Act property in violation of a permit issued by the agency tasked with protecting California’s beaches.
Read moreSouthern California Residents Protest Nuclear Plant Demolition Plans
Southern California residents packed a California State Lands Commission meeting Tuesday night to protest the plan to demolish the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
Read moreFight for Beach Access Through California Enclave Heats Up
As expected, environmentalists have lobbied to intervene in a settlement between the California Coastal Commission and a wealthy beach community that continues to deny public access to a pristine beach in Santa Barbara County.
Read moreCalifornia Coastal Commission Continues to Tackle Beach Access
An elected commission in California continues to grapple with beach access advocates clamoring for the destruction of both legal and physical impediments preventing the general public from enjoying two beaches near affluent neighborhoods.
Read moreMartins Beach Feud Continues as State Prepares for Eminent Domain
California lawmakers unveiled their strategy for the next round in the long-running feud between the state and a Silicon Valley billionaire over public access to one of the state’s most picturesque beaches.
Read moreCoastal Commission Fines Apartment Owner $1.5 Million
A Northern California apartment owner was fined $1.45 million by the California Coastal Commission Thursday for blocking beach access and allowing unpermitted construction on a Pacifica beach.
Read moreCoastal Commission Develops Policy to Consult CA Tribes
In what was called “long overdue,” the California Coastal Commission Wednesday held the first public hearing on a new policy to consult with Native American tribes in California on coastal matters.
Read moreAttorneys Spar Over Secret Meetings by Coastal Commissioners
Attorneys sparred in a San Diego courtroom Wednesday morning over whether five current and former Coastal Commissioners violated the Coastal Act in failing to disclose private meetings and if they should face hundreds of thousands of dollars in civil penalties.
Read moreEx-Coastal Commissioner Says He Failed to Report Secret Meetings
A former member of the California Coastal Commission testified Tuesday about his failure to disclose private meetings with developers which led to his recusal in a vote on a contentious coastal development in Orange County.
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