Strand Development Dana Point Shows Coastal Act Need

With the recent signing of an agreement to use standard access hours for the beach at the Strand,after years of manipulation of truth by the city and developer, hopefully the issue is on its way to finality.

These quotes from past proceedings and commission files tell the story:

DANA POINT A judge on Thursday ruled that the city of Dana Point could not use claims of teenage partyingto limit public beach access through a gated community of multimillion dollar homes. In a strongly worded decision the court found that the city’s emergency ordinance was based on “nothing more than speculation, conjecture and fear mongering.”

CHARLES LESTER, former Exec Director

“If you have a real, legitimate threat and you need to take emergency action to safeguard the public, you can take steps to do that, but you can’t pretend there’s a nuisance just to avoid your Coastal Act obligations. Over the years, the commission has occasionally encountered some local governments that have used flimsy excuses to try to limit or shut down beach access instead of taking steps to manage public use. While legitimate public safety emergencies can include oil spills, public stairways washed out by storms or encroaching fires, some cities have used residents’ complaints about trash, partying and traffic to curb coastal access."

“The developer, Sanford Edward, was required to provide new public access to the beach and had been trying to limit access through the community since its approval.In early 2000s.

So this constitutes another key win for the agency. Congrats from Nature Commission!