Coastal Commission's enforcer walks a beautiful beat
Andrew Willis patrols the state's coastline from Pacific Palisades to San Clemente, looking for humanity encroaching on a fragile seaside zone.
Andrew Willis walked for an hour along the rugged Corona del Mar coast, his path punctuated by intimate coves and tide pools.
"There were no footprints other than mine," he recalled.
Someone with a small bulldozer had been moving dirt down the side of a bluff 30 feet above, a neighborhood tipster reported. It could be illegal. And it was Willis' job, and only his, to investigate.
Willis, 30, is the sole California Coastal Commission official patrolling for illegal development and habitat destruction from Pacific Palisades to San Clemente, some 280 miles of shoreline that are among the most populated stretches of the West Coast.
Included in his territory are coastal wetlands and offshore islands, and he is the commission's only guardian of public access for dozens of beaches in Los Angeles and Orange counties, excluding Malibu.
"It's almost an impossible task," he said.
He has stopped county workers in Marina Del Rey from trimming trees where herons nested. He has told a Sunset Beach homeowners association to remove hot tub equipment that blocked a public walkway. And he has tracked down a group of Newport Beach homeowners who hired a bulldozer operator to level sand dunes that blocked their ocean view. After a legal fight, the dunes are being restored.
The San Pedro resident has 300 open cases, some dating to the 1980s. And the backlog is growing.
"There's a lot of people and a lot of coast. A lot of homes being built," he said. "But I'm just one person for that area, and I can't protect everything."
In 1976, a year before Willis was born, the Coastal Act gave the state broad powers to protect the California coast from encroachment by developers and property owners. But the agency the law created, the Coastal Commission, has suffered from a lack of staff in recent years.
Statewide, only four other coastal inspectors patrol the remainder of the state's coastline.
"It's like having five cops for the whole state of California," said Lisa Haage, who directs efforts to enforce the Coastal Act.
When Willis checks out reports of coastal rule-breakers, he uses commonplace tools: a digital camera, aerial photos, maps, binoculars and his eyes. He usually roves on foot, but occasionally borrows a kayak or floats atop his surfboard in search of a vantage point.
He does not carry a ticket book, gun or baton. He wears the uniform of a beach boy: short-sleeved, surf-brand shirts, jeans or shorts.
