Surfrider Foundation received a positive ruling from the California Appellate Court this week when it ruled in favor of California Coastal Commission (“CCC”) control over beach access rights at Strands Beach in Dana Point. Surfrider won our case against the City of Dana Point in 2011 at the trial court when we challenged the City's bogus nuisance ordinance. The City then appealed that case, as did the Coastal Commission. This appellate opinion of that consolidated case reaffirms the public's constitutionally-protected beach access rights, this time through strengthening the CCC's jurisdiction.
The City appealed the trial court case that Surfrider Foundation won to the California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, and the CCC appealed their consolidated case regarding their jurisdiction to
The majority court concluded that the City, as the plaintiff in the original action, was required to demonstrate that it had exercised its nuisance abatement powers under section 30005(b) in good faith and not as pretext for avoiding Coastal Act requirements. Since the appellate court is not a trier of fact, they remanded this issue to back to the lower court who already ruled that the City acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in enacting the nuisance ordinance that cuts off beach access. The court decided to hold the Surfrider Foundation portion of the consolidated case in abeyance (or “on hold”) because presumably our beach access greivance will be mooted upon this Coastal Commission jurisdiction ruling.
Interestingly, the dissent written by Justice Benke, disagrees with the majority opinion on Coastal Commission jurisdiction in siding with the City on their nuisance jurisiction. However, the dissent goes on to note her willingness to reach the Surfrider Foundation portion of the case as perhaps the most expedient way to protect the public's interest in unfettered access to the beach.
Overall, Surfrider Foundation is very pleased with the ruling in the case and is hopeful that it will lead to maximized beach access not only in Dana Point but throughout the state.