San Clemente Family Takes Battle Over Sea Wall to Court

SAN CLEMENTE, CA - A San Clemente family sued the California Coastal Commission today over a dispute about a waiver the agency insisted on as a condition for approving replacement of the residents' mobile home.

In 2014, Eric Wills and his family wanted to replace their beachfront mobile home, built in 1977, in the Capistrano Shores Mobile Home Park with a slightly smaller one.

The Wills sought permission from the Coastal Commission, which approved the replacement but demanded a waiver from the family that they would not do anything to buttress the sea wall against future erosion. When the Wills threatened litigation, the commission let the family replace the mobile home and agreed to let the courts decide the issue over the waiver, their attorney Larry Salzman said.

The commission's staff said in a report on the permit that efforts to buttress the sea wall at the mobile home park could restrict public beach access, and that climate change and other factors make it a certainty that the beach will continue to erode there.

Salzman said the lawsuit, which was filed in Orange County Superior Court, argues that it is unconstitutional to take away the residents' right to protect their home, and cited a 1987 U.S. Supreme Court case involving the commission.

"The 1987 Supreme Court case establishes the principle that government can demand someone give up their property rights in exchange for a permit, but only for the purpose of mitigating some adverse impact it will have on the public," Salzman told City News Service. "The Wills replacing their mobile home doesn't impose any cost on the public at all."

Salzman said the Wills believe that the right course is to let the commission decide later what to do with the sea wall when erosion threatens the homes.

City News Service