Ending a long-running dispute over coastal access, music producer David Geffen gave up the key to locked wooden gates next to his Malibu home, allowing the public to enter an exclusive stretch of beach walled off by multimillion-dollar homes.
The announcement brought public applause at a California Coastal Commission meeting Thursday as settlement talks continued over how much the billionaire principal of DreamWorks SKG may owe in attorneys fees and fines under the terms of the state's Coastal Act.
Geffen's action makes good on a 22-year-old legal promise to open a public pathway across his property in exchange for permits from the Coastal Commission to begin building his Cape Cod-style compound across multiple lots on Carbon Beach.
The public pathway from Pacific Coast Highway to the beach remained blocked for two decades because of government inaction and then was tied up in the courts for nearly three years as Geffen lawyers raised a series of legal arguments that a Los Angeles judge has steadily rejected.
"The only thing that's left is how much money may be paid in attorney fees and fines," said Daniel A. Olivas, a deputy state attorney general representing the Coastal Commission. "By turning over the key, he stopped the daily fines of $1,000 a day from accumulating."
Neither Geffen's lawyer, Steven Amerikaner, nor his spokesman, Andy Spahn, would comment.
But Steve Hoye, a former Sierra Club fundraiser who co-founded the nonprofit Access for All, said his group would exercise its agreement with the state to open -- and monitor -- the walkway as soon as it could install trash cans, post a sign and make sure the walkway was safe for the public.
Hoye said he picked up the keys Wednesday from a Geffen aide after producing an insurance policy as proof of the group's liability coverage. He briefly opened the gate on Thursday and discovered that Geffen had paved the once-sand walkway, enclosed it between walls and installed a second set of gates about 25 feet seaward of the white wooden gates along Pacific Coast Highway. The key Geffen turned over opens both sets of gates, Hoye said.
"Mr. Geffen isn't very happy with us at this time," Hoye said. "But we hope to meet with him and address his concerns: what hours it will be open, trash cleanup and procedures if there's a problem."
Hoye said this would be the first of five walkways that Access for All has state approval to open, so the public can reach beaches fronting some of Malibu's most exclusive enclaves. Beach access is blocked by gates and fences.
