16.5: Coastal Access

Last updated
Save as PDF

Page ID: 21578

$ \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } $

$ \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} $

$ \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}$ $ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$

( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) $ \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}$

$ \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}$ $ \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}$

$ \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}$ $ \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}$

$ \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}$

$ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$

$ \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}$

$ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$

$ \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}$

$ \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}$

$ \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}$

$ \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}$

$ \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}$

$ \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}$

$ \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}$

$ \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}$ $ \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}$

$ \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}} % arrow$

$ \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}} % arrow$

$ \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } $

$ \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} $

$ \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} $

$ \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} $

$ \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} $

$ \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } $

$ \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} $

$\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}$ $\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}$ $\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}$ $\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}$ $\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}$ $\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}$ $\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}$ $\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}$ $\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}$ $\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}$ $\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}$ $\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}$ $\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}$ $\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}$ $\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}$ $\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}$ $\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}$ $\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}$ $\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}$ $\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}$ $\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}$ $\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}$ $\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}$ $\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}$ $\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}$ $\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}$ $\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}$ $\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}$ $\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}$ $\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}$ $\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}$ $\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}$ $\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}$ $\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}$ $\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}$ $\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}$ $\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}$ $\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}$ $\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}$ $\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}$ $\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}$ $\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}$ $\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}$ $\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}$ $\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}$ $\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}$ $\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}$ $\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}$ $\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}$ $\newcommand{\lt}{<}$ $\newcommand{\gt}{>}$ $\newcommand{\amp}{&}$ $\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}$

Coastal Access

California’s public beaches are a spectacle of natural beauty and a bounty for recreation. But what if you can’t get to them?

For a century, surfers and beach-goers enjoyed Martins Beach, just south of Half Moon Bay, Given the protections of access enshrined in the 1976 California Coastal Act, they had every reason to expect to continue enjoying Martins Beach. The only way to get to this beach, isolated on each side by steep cliffs, is by a road leading from Highway 1. Because public use had long been established, the law required this road to remain open.

But in 2008, billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla purchased the property. Prior to the purchase, the San Mateo County Planning and Building Department informed him of the requirement for continued access. In a demonstration of the phrase that money can’t buy class, Khosla promptly locked the gate to the access road anyway. The Surfrider Foundation sued. A group called Friends of Martins Beach sued. A state senate bill, SB968, to restore access was passed and signed by the governor. The California State Lands Commission tried to buy an easement. The California Court of Appeal for the First Appellate District ruled against Khosla. Khosla appealed to the Supreme Court, but SCOTUS declined to take the case. None of these setbacks mattered; the Martins Beach gate remained closed. Seemingly no governmental entity, even under the imposition of fines, can compel someone with unlimited funds, infinite spite, and a phalanx of lawyers, to obey the law. Or, as the New York Times put it: “Aggressive, shameless, obsessive and optimistic, the tech billionaire Vinod Khosla is willing to litigate the California coast for the rest of his life." In 2020, the State of California sued Khosla and the case remains ongoing.

Public Use

Public use of public shorelines has long been a bitterly acrimonious and contentious issue in ocean-bordering states, just as common entry to “public” swimming pools has sparked racially-motivated violence throughout the last century, and some municipalities have restricted “public” parks to local residents. In the absence of national governing legislation, laws regarding public beach access vary widely from state to state, and have often involved overt exclusion of certain racial and ethnic groups. Though today many of these “resident-only” restrictions have not survived legal challenge, the practical problem of actually getting to public beaches now acts as a proxy for formerly openly-racist exclusions.

One legal concept here is called the “public trust doctrine,” which posits that natural features–the sky, the oceans, the beaches–are public property belonging to the citizens of the nation rather than any one individual. A related concept is the “right to roam” doctrine, which is widespread outside of the United States though unknown here; this is a legal permission for the public to access private farmlands, lakes, rivers, and mountains for non-disruptive, non-commercial recreational purposes such as hiking.

California legislates against private usurpation of the public coastline, but it is not alone. Surprisingly, Texas has a generous allowance in its 1959 Texas Open Beaches Act, which states:

[I]t is declared and affirmed to be the public policy of this state that the public, individually and collectively, shall have the free and unrestricted right of ingress and egress to and from the state-owned beaches.

On the other side of this issue stand states such as Connecticut, which offers very limited rights to public coastlines, a fact brilliantly mocked by documentarian Michael Moore in his show TV Nation. In an episode segment called “The ‘Public’ Beaches of Greenwich, CT,” the filmmaker arranges for a diverse group of New York residents to be bused to a beach in Greenwich, where the bus is summarily turned away at the gate due to the lack of a “permit." The would-be beach-goers are then transferred to a ship, but as they approach the shore, they are stopped by police boats. Undeterred, the lifejacket-clad citizens then leap into the water and swim to shore, where they are subjected to a barrage of harassment from local beach goers and are escorted off the beach under the view of police. One helpful gentleman suggests that if they really want to swim at the beach, they should first buy a local house. Keep in mind, this stunt happens on a public shoreline. (Subsequent court decisions ruled against Connecticut’s resident-only beach policies.)

California’s population dramatically increased in the 1960s and 1970s, leading to rising housing values, and new development along coastlines. In response to this increasing pressure on natural areas, in 1972 voters passed Proposition 20, which began the process leading to the 1976 California Coastal Act. This legislation established a Coastal Commission and enacted protections for public access. To wit, the Act reads:

[M]aximum access, which shall be conspicuously posted, and recreational opportunities shall be provided for all the people consistent with public safety needs and the need to protect public rights, rights of private property owners, and natural resource areas from overuse.

The caveats of this language–exclusions for private property, safety, and natural resources–undermine its protections and place it somewhat below Texas’ stronger affirmation of public rights. The protection of private property is particularly problematic, because as discussed above, installations such as seawalls armoring one stretch of beach (in front of a house, for example) come at the expense of neighboring areas. Another problem is its definition of the private/public demarcation of the beach. Nonetheless, the Act has provided a strong tool for regulators (often when prompted by activists) to restrict and fine private parties who steal this public resource.

Defining "Beach"

The definition of a beach can be ambiguous. Where does the beach begin and end and what can be owned in the stretch of sand approaching the waves? Is the beach seaward of the line where vegetation ends and the sand begins? That’s how the demarcation is drawn in Oregon and Washington, which have very generous laws similar to the one in Texas.

But in California, the distinction is the mean high tide mark. For practical purposes this is often distinguished as “wet sand vs. dry sand.” Dry sand, that’s potentially someone’s property. Wet sand, which must have been inundated by the daily tide, is public. This line isn’t always clear and is certainly not marked. Further confusing this definition, specific tidal height varies as tides cycle twice a month between spring and neap tides, with no indication of what the mean tide should be. Moreover, many shore side homeowners have had to make easements to allow public access, so some stretches of “dry sand” are public while others are not. An additional problem is how the dry/wet dividing line will change from historical precedent with future rising sea level.

In 2015, a CNN reporter and an employee of the California Coastal Commission tested this issue at Escondido Beach, in Malibu, where they were confronted within minutes by a security guard threatening a $1500 fine and a lifetime ban from the beach. They declined to move and the security guard summoned police. When the employee of the California Coastal Commission produced a map and explained the law, the responding officers ascertained that the beach-goers were there legally and left them to enjoy their afternoon.

But having to produce a map upon demand, much less endure a law enforcement confrontation, each time one wants to go to a beach is a high bar for “public access.” This is particularly a deterrent to communities unaccustomed to the expectation of polite and respectful interactions with police. Something to keep in mind in such situations is that private security guards are not law enforcement and can act only as far as verbal intimidation and aggressive threats allow. Still, no one wants to spend a relaxing day at the beach having to assert one’s rights to be there, and that’s the point; if private homeowners are able to chase away legal visitors through menace and bullying, then they’ve stolen the beach from the public.

Getting There

Even in areas where beach access is clear, there remains the problem of getting there. In California, it’s hard to go anywhere except via car. So local areas wishing to discourage beach visitors can legally do so by restricting or time-limiting parking areas, or by imposing draconian parking payments. Connecticut, previously mentioned as a particularly difficult beach access state, has beaches where non-residents can only enter by purchasing single-entry passes–but the only places to buy such passes are far from the beach and not open on weekends. At Compo Beach in Westport, CT, nonresidents are charged $30/day for parking during the week and $50/day on weekends. Most Los Angeles area parking fees are much lower, though this one-fee-fits-all system still imposes a significant burden on less affluent beach visitors, and may contribute to the fact that one-third of Californian African-Americans visit the beach less than once per year.

Malibu beach houses are notorious for erecting unauthorized “no parking” signs, for painting legal curbside parking red, and in one case, erecting a fake Potemkin-village four-car garage facing in order to trick would-be beach-goers into thinking there was no access. The City of Malibu has even removed official signs aiding beach access, in the name of safety.

What about public transportation options? Not in Palos Verdes, where in the 1980s residents succeeded in restricting public transit buses from servicing the area. Even if a beach were serviced by a bus line, how does one carry a surfboard on a crowded bus? Not to mention wrangling children, beach towels, and a cooler? Though public transit seems a possible alternative, the lack of service and practical realities mean that for most beach-goers, cars are the only way to access the public beach.

In the United States, just as public swimming pools have a difficult history of racial segregation, beaches have faced similar racial issues. In 1912, a black family, Charles and Willa Bruce, purchased a stretch of beach in Los Angeles with the intent of developing a beach recreation area open to African Americans, who were excluded from most other nearby beaches. Soon the KKK began a campaign of harassment, including posting “No Trespassing” signs reminiscent of modern Malibu signs. After years of arson and violence, the city of Manhattan Beach seized the property through eminent domain in 1924. Nearly a century later, the State of California recognized the injustice and returned the land to the Bruce’s descendants. The land is estimated to be worth as much as $75 million.

References

Armborst, T., D'Oca, D., Theodore, G., & Gold, R. (2017, August 27). Six “Weapons” Cities Use to Keep You off (or on) the Beach. Next City. Retrieved October 19, 2023, from https://nextcity.org/features/arsenal-of-exclusion-keep-public-off-free-beaches
Chamings, A. (2023, July 10). Affluent California city accused of tearing down public beach access signs. Retrieved October 21, 2023, from https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/malibu-public-beach-access-sign-feud-18193172.php?IPID=SFGate-HP-Editors-Picks
Bowles, N. (2018, August 30). Every Generation Gets the Beach Villain It Deserves. The New York Times. Retrieved October 21, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/30/technology/vinod-khosla-beach.html
Kahrl, A. (2018, May 21). Free the Beach. Boston Review. Retrieved October 19, 2023, from https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/andrew-w-kahrl-free-beach/
Kaur, H. (2020, January 8). California is suing a Silicon Valley billionaire for blocking public access to a beach. Retrieved October 21, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/07/us/california-lawsuit-vinod-khosla-beach-trnd/index.html
Michael Moore, TV Nation. (1995, July 21). The "Public" Beaches of Greenwich, CT. (Season 2, Episode 1: We're #1). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMS-EfcWrSw
National Agricultural Law Center (n.d.). The Public Domain: Basics of the Public Trust Doctrine. Retrieved October 20, 2023, from https://nationalaglawcenter.org/the-public-domain-basics-of-the-public-trust-doctrine/
Mossburg, C. (2022, June 30). Multimillion-dollar beach property taken from Black owners in Jim Crow era is cleared to be returned. Retrieved October 21, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/01/us/bruces-beach-los-angeles-property-return/index.html
O'Neill, A. (2015, September 5). Drawing a line in the sand in Malibu. Retrieved October 21, 2023, from https://www.cnn.com/2015/09/05/us/malibu-day-at-the-beach/index.html
Ross, R. (2022, July 21). California beachfront land taken from Black family returned in ceremony. Retrieved October 20, 2023, from https://www.reuters.com/world/us/california-beachfront-land-taken-black-family-returned-ceremony-2022-07-20/
Shultz, D. (2021, August 26). A Dilemma for California Legislators: Preserve Public Beaches or Protect Coastal Homes. Retrieved October 21, 2023, from https://www.pbs.org/wnet/peril-and-promise/2021/08/dilemma-california-legislators-preserve-public-beaches-or-protect-coastal-homes/
Shyong, F. (2021, July 9). The beach is there for all of us — We just have to get there. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-07-09/beach-restrictions-race

Search

Text Color

Text Size

Margin Size

Font Type