An expensive lesson on public access

Coastal access in California is the law. For those who seek to restrict access, it's a certain loser in almost all court cases.

Almost all because a Santa Cruz County judge in October ruled in favor of a Rio del Mar homeowners' association which wanted to close off access along a walkway that fronts beach vacation rentals.

The state Coastal Commission, however, strongly disagrees and Thursday, meeting in Santa Cruz, handed down more than $4.7 million in fines along with cease-and-desist orders against the beach-front property owners, who have installed barriers to keep the unruly public out.

All 12 commissioners, including Santa Cruz County Supervisor Justin Cummings, concurred, with Cummings saying the penalties even seemed a bit “light,” while another member said the blocked-off walkway looks like a “crime scene.” The commission ordered the owners to dismantle the barriers that were installed in January during the stormy season that flooded much of Beach Drive.

Access to public beaches, and ostensibly to beach-front walkways, in California is fought over constantly even though it's protected by state law. Homeowners and communities along stretches of shoreline have sometimes refused to open gates or clear pathways, or ripped down posted directions to beaches.

In this case, the battle goes back at least 43 years, when after another period of flooding, the HOA was formed and owners applied for a coastal permit to rebuild. The permit was granted and the Coastal Commission says it required owners to allow public access across the small patios on the land side of the walkway.

Within a few years, however, owners began to construct barriers to restrict public access, leaving walkers to navigate away from the beach, along a narrow, dark sidewalk.

But in 2018, the county demolished a fence that blocked access at the southern entrance of the pathway, and in ensuing years, walkers enjoyed free access along the walkway, much to the apparent chagrin of owners who charge big money to rent out their properties and probably don't like hearing from guests that their privacy was being invaded.

So the HOA sued and Volkmann eventually ruled that the walkway belonged to the homeowners, noting that the county had not objected to the restricted access until very late in the game nor had put up any funds to maintain the path for public use.

“The suggestion by the county that the public possesses some type of interest in the property is contradicted by the evidence confirming that for seventy-nine years (19292018) the area was maintained and utilized by private homeowners,” Volkmann wrote.

After Thursday's stunning Coastal Commission decision, an HOA board member went further, telling the Sentinel there was no condition on the 1980 seawall permit requiring public access.

“... the Commission cannot invent one 43 years later in order to take private land for public use and attempt to extract unconscionable fines and penalties for using the small amount of private space,” said Annie Vadaugna.

Will this issue turn into even more of a legal battle? Depending on the deep pockets of the HOA, perhaps. You might recall the celebrated Martin's Beach access case. Tech billionaire Vinod Khosla purchased the 88-acre property adjacent to the San Mateo County beach for $32 million in 2008 and promptly blocked access. Since then lawyers' fees have been escalating around efforts to reopen the beach to the public through Khosla's property.

The California Coastal Commission and the State Lands Commission continue their battle with Khosla over public access. Khosla already has lost in a case that went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court. He argued he did not need a permit to close a gate to the single access road running through his property to the beach. Since then, he has opened the gate most days and allows people who pay a parking fee to drive to the beach.

Khosla should have learned by now that California's coastal law is clear. Property owners need permits from the Coastal Commission not only when they build homes near the beach, but also if they change public access to the beach. This will be an expensive lesson for the Rio del Mar HOA to learn all over again.