Photo by Marisa Padilla
The end of summer in Malibu is not so much a death knell as it is for other communities. For Malibuites, fall rings in a new dawn of open parking, smaller lines and less traffic. One complaint heard year-round, however, remains the public’s use and access of the Malibu beaches.
Most of the confusion arises at the high-tide line. Mandated by the 40-year-old California Coastal Commission, all of California’s beaches are public below the mean-tide line, or just if the sand is wet.
In 1972 the passing of a voter initiative launched the Coastal Commission to better regulate development and beach access along the coastline, which led to the permanent Coastal Act in 1976 to outline the dos and don’ts of private development and coastal access in California.
This week the state Assembly shot down a bill on a 34-30 vote that would have given the Coastal Commission the ability to impose direct fines on violators of the Coastal Act. Currently, the Coastal Commission must collect penalties in court; the system is often cited as expensive and often inefficient.
“No Access” signs and trashcans in the roads have become the insignia of Malibu’s strategy to keep beach visitors out, and blocking access is the most common violation to the Coastal Act. The three-times rejected measure would have allowed the Coastal Commission to collect penalties from anyone who harms wildlife or habitats, ignores building restrictions or blocks public accessways.
California requires maximum beach access for all people without interference of development and sets the divide between public and private property at the mean tideline. It also recommends that Malibu’s 20 miles of coastline have one public access way for every 1,000 feet of beach, averaging about 105 accessways. Currently, there are 17 public accessways.
Junior Jacob Young says the problem isn’t so much a matter of access for surfers as it is for regular beachgoers. “There is technically access. The problem is that a lot of beaches are locked for private residences and a lot of them are hidden. A lot of homeowners believe it is theirs, so they cover up the beach access points they cover it with a bush or no parking or trespassing sign,” Jacob said. “And thats not nice.”
Jacob, a surfer for seven years, surfs for free at Surfrider by the Malibu Pier and First Point.
“Little Dume can be a really good surfing but there’s no access unless you have a key or pay for parking at Paradise Cove,” Jacob said. “There’s not that many prime surfing spots so a lot of these private beaches aren’t really great.”
So while Malibu’s famed surf break might not be the ultimate selling point, the shoreline remains a tourist attraction. Thanks to environmental writer Jenny Price, co-founder of an app that exposes phony private beaches and entrances, “Our Malibu Beaches” exposes 25 accessways and a slew of other local beach knowledge once only attainable through word-of-mouth.
When “Our Malibu Beaches” was released earlier this summer for free in the iTunes store, Price was busy publicizing it as both an app spokesperson and public access advocate, following the burst of press attention from the LA Times to the New York Times.
Malibu home owners have gained a NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) reputation with their approach to keeping people. off the oceanfront property Over the years, parking and passage barriers set for visitors have become abundant and range from padlocked gates to orange cones to trashcans. Generic “No Parking” and “Private Property” signs and hired guards are also common. The app outlines the ways to identify these store-bought signs as opposed to official ones and shows maps to hidden entry ways, providing pictures of them as well as descriptions of the area.
The app also suggests turning any disputes about private-public beaches into a “teachable” moment, calling the bluff and suggesting “nicely” that the beach is public, or to report the incident to the Coastal Commission. The app does not advocate blatant disrespect for property owners and their actual private property.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Follow the Graphic on Twitter: @PeppGraphic
As published in the Sept. 12 issue of the Pepperdine Graphic.
