State Coastal Commission

The Coastal Commission is not "a good idea gone wrong;" it was a wretched idea to begin with. The commission concept is essentially fascist--property is left nominally in private hands, but ultimate control is seized by an agency of the state. The abuses recited in your article are not mere aberrations; they are the inevitable consequences of a corrupt concept. If environmentalists are concerned about a particular scenic area, they should do what the Nature Conservancy organization has done with more than 2 million acres over the past 30 years--they should buy it. Unfortunately, the parlor fascists seem more interested in wielding political power through the abusive machinery of the Coastal Commission.

A spectacular stretch of Northern California coastline that includes ocean-side bluffs, beaches, rolling hills and redwood groves will be permanently protected from development under a landmark deal approved by the state Coastal Commission. Nearly 10 square miles of untouched shoreline, wooded glens, streams and farmland in northern Santa Cruz County, extending several miles inland, will be transferred to the state and federal governments, which will operate it as open space and preserve portions for agriculture.

The state has ordered a halt to a Malibu development project after construction workers using a backhoe dug up the remains of six American Indians from an apparent Chumash Indian burial ground near Encinal Canyon. The Coastal Commission issued the stop-work order Tuesday at the request of the state Native American Heritage Commission, which received a report Friday that Indian remains had been found on the site.

Los Angeles County planning commissioners have recommended approval of a controversial plan to build more retail, restaurant, office and housing on parking lots in Marina del Rey. County staff, however, bowed to public protests on the most controversial element of the plan as it was presented in November: the loss of parking spaces on the northern edge of Mother's Beach. The Mother's Beach parking lot is used by kayakers and boaters to access the marina, which is owned by the county.

Burbank City Councilwoman Mary Lou Howard, who last month was planning to resign from the state Coastal Commission, now is seeking to lead it. At a meeting in Marina del Rey on Wednesday, the commission deadlocked 6 to 6 on the choice of a new chair. It was unable to decide between Howard, who is backed by panel environmentalists, and David Malcolm, a Chula Vista city councilman who Howard's supporters say is aligned with pro-development forces.

The California Coastal Commission recently became alarmed when, to protect the public safety, both state and local agencies began the late evening closure of beaches and beach parking lots. In some instances, closures were brought about because angry residents were annoyed by the traffic and noise created by beach visitors. In other instances, closures were primarily made for public safety reasons or a lack of public funds to patrol beaches after dark.

Rancho Palos Verdes officials are cheering the California Coastal Commission's approval of a $135-million public golf course and residential development, saying the project will bring jobs, money and prestige to the financially ailing city.

Concerned that silting at the mouth of Marina del Rey could choke off boating, Los Angeles County officials propose to haul tons of contaminated silt and sand to the Port of Los Angeles to use as fill for a new marine wildlife habitat. The plan calls for the U.S.

To hear the fixers and property rights activists tell it, the California Coastal Commission is a ferociously activist agency that terrorizes homeowners and developers alike along the state's famous coastline. Its dozen commissioners have the power to determine the fate of everything from development of a new golf course to expansion of the garage of any home in the coastal zone. But is it so tough? Not according to the self-titled Coast Huggers, who keep tabs on key votes. The Sierra Club activists and others who follow the commission's business say the commissioners voted in favor of protecting the coast only 44% of the time in 26 key votes in 2007.

The most ambitious development proposal on the Central Coast in years has triggered a fierce backlash among environmentalists, who say it will spoil an ecological treasure and turn more of the coast into an exclusive playground for the rich. More than 17,000 trees at Pebble Beach would be uprooted to build a new golf course and expand two luxury resorts under a development plan being led by a group of high-profile investors that includes actor Clint Eastwood. But Pebble Beach Co.

The California Supreme Court on Thursday removed a legal cloud that had threatened to wipe out 30 years of restrictions on coastal development, ruling unanimously that the makeup of the state Coastal Commission meets constitutional requirements. The ruling, written by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, ends years of legal wrangling and uncertainty over the regulatory agency, which controls development along 1,100 miles of California's coastline.

"Mayberry-by-the-Sea" may keep its monopoly on small-town charm a little longer. Seal Beach, the last coastal city in Orange County without on-street parking meters, approved a plan in September to install 301 meters along Main Street, a tree- and bench-lined strip that residents liken to Andy Griffith's fictional home. But last week, the California Coastal Commission sent the city a letter that put the plan on hold.

SACRAMENTO -- Gov. Gray Davis' urgent push to make the state Coastal Commission a constitutional entity by weakening the Legislature's political influence over the agency will face its first test today in the Assembly. Supporters of the governor's bill hope to get it approved by both houses this week, so Davis could sign it immediately and it could take effect as law in May.

California's coast has withstood huge waves and oil spills, bikini contests and infestations of dead squid. But it will take the state Supreme Court and the Legislature to save it from a legal attack that won a curious victory Monday in the state 3rd District Court of Appeal. For three decades the state Coastal Commission has protected Californians' sandy beaches and rocky coves from overreaching developers and every variety of shortsighted profiteer.

Two county supervisors were nominated Tuesday to serve on the state Coastal Commission. Tom Wilson and Jim Silva were approved by fellow supervisors for consideration by the State Senate Rules Committee to fill two open seats.