http://www.latimes.com/local/abcaria...mn.html#page=1
Long overdue: Malibu elitists who impede public access now face fines
New law gives California Coastal Commission authority to fine those who would deny beach access to public
Attention, Malibu elitists who post fake 'no parking' signs to keep the public from beaches. You will pay.
Since summertime is upon us, here is a modest proposal for Malibu: Stop enforcing any “no parking” signs on Pacific Coast Highway. Most of them are probably fake anyway.
Owners of beachside homes in California have gotten so out of control -- posting fake “no parking” signs, along with fake “no trespassing” signs and fake “private property” signs-- that the California Legislature was forced to take action against them last week.
No parking signs in Malibu
"No parking" signs line Cliffside Drive in Malibu. According to the California Coastal Commission, many parking signs posted along the Malibu coastline are unauthorized and erected by property owners seeking to restrict public use of local beaches. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
The state budget signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday included a “trailer bill” that gives the California Coastal Commission the power to fine people for violating the public access provisions of the California Coastal Act. From now on, the commission no longer has to file a lawsuit against a recalcitrant property owner that could take years and ridiculous amounts of money to resolve.
Instead, the commission may fine anyone who fails to remove a fake “no parking” or “private property” sign within 30 days. Fines, as I read the new law, can range from hundreds of dollars to around $22,000. That may not be a heck of a lot for a billionaire, but Malibu and other desirable coastal strips are home to many middle-class folks who bought beachfront properties at relative bargains decades ago.
“I think it’s pretty significant,” said Lisa Haage, the Coastal Commission’s chief of enforcement. She said the new law simply gives the commission an administrative penalty authority that many other state agencies -- from air pollution control districts to structural pest control boards -- already possess. Most access violation complaints are settled at the district level, she said. “But there is a certain kind of person who does not respond well to us asking them to do the right thing. This is designed for that population.”
(Conservative critics like the Pacific Legal Foundation see the new law as a “power grab” by the commission, and a dark day for property rights.)
The commission has hundreds of backlogged complaints about access violations, Haage said. Many involve curbs painted red by homeowners, parking meters bagged to make them look broken, and of course, fake “no parking” signs. “It’s really frustrating,” she said. “It’s hard for anybody to tell if they are real or not, so people obey them.”
Malibu beach access
A beachgoer, at right, passes through a gate alongside David Geffen's home at Carbon Beach in Malibu in May 2013. At left is a sealed garage door and driveway of Geffen's home. (Christina House / For the Times)
The new bill's sponsor, Assembly speaker Toni Atkins, a San Diego Democrat, had proposed an even stronger measure last year, which would have given the Coastal Commission power to fine for other sorts of violations, like unpermitted development or bad environmental mitigation.
Still, giving the commission the authority to fine access violators -- or, more precisely, to threaten to fine them -- is a big deal.
“Hopefully this will be a game-changer,” said environmental writer Jenny Price who has championed greater beach access in Malibu. “There are hundreds of illegal signs, and this finally gives the Coastal Commission the power to do something.”
Atkins’ spokesman, Will Shuck, told me the law goes into effect immediately. I asked if he had any examples of fake signs, and he replied, “You mean the David Geffen collection?”