Laguna Beach Couple Fined $1 Million For Victoria Beach Seawall

LAGUNA BEACH, CA — Owners of an oceanfront home on Victoria Beach received a hefty fine Friday, after the California Coastal Commission reviewed their seawall rebuild. The unpermitted work on the Victoria Beach seawall has damaged a public beach, the commission said. It was with a unanimous vote by the coastal commission to levy the fine and require the removal of the 11-foot by 80-foot seawall that they say damages the beach and public access.

Owners Jeff and Tracy Katz maintained that their project was merely a "minor repair and maintenance" of an existing wall that didn't require a coastal development permit.

Though the Commission sent a series of warnings during the yearlong construction project, they "chose not to comply," the Commission said. The Commissioners found that the Katzes and their representative "willfully and knowingly disregarded the law, and directed them to come up with a plan to remove the seawall within 60 days or pay the $1 million fine.

The house at 11 Lagunita Drive, was originally built in 1952 on the bluffs over Victoria Beach. The famed public beach was the birthplace of skim boarding and is popular with locals and visitors to Laguna Beach. In 2005, the previous owners received "temporary authorization for an emergency seawall, but never sought permanent approval for the structure as required by law, City News Service reported.

The 4,837 square foot home home is iconic in its , originally listed in 2012 for $17 million sold to the Katzes in early 2013 for $9 million.

The property was purchased by the Katzes in 2013. It is not clear as of this report if the Katzes were aware of the need for permanent approval when they purchased the home.

"The property owners purposefully sought to avoid Coastal Commission review, and chose to disregard the agency's repeated advice to comply with the law," said Executive Director Jack Ainsworth. "They took a calculated risk that backfired. This did not have to turn out this way."

Seawalls prevent sand from reaching the beach, damaging the beaches and causing them to shrink to the point of disappearing, Commissioner Donne Brownsey, the Coastal Commission explained.

With changing climates, this case is an important "harbinger" of challenges coastal communities face with sea level rise, "seawalls are harmful to beaches," he said.

Commissioner Roberto Uranga repeated the words of President Ronald Reagan, saying, "Bring down this wall."

Google Map Photo

City News Service contributed to this report

Photo courtesy Greg Viviani, SoLagLocal @Instagram