Court’s Action Supports Coast Panel Rule on Open Beaches

In a move that may lead to the opening of many private California beaches to the public, the U.S. Supreme Court Monday refused to hear the controversial Whalers’ Village Club case. The exclusive Ventura County oceanfront complex was seeking to overturn an order from the California Coastal Commission that it either open its private beach to the public or tear down its protective seawall.

Attorneys for both sides agreed that the court’s refusal will lead to numerous openings of private beaches along the California shoreline.

“We’re very disappointed,” said Charles E. Greenberg, a Long Beach lawyer who represented Whalers’ Village, which is south of Pt. Mugu. “I’m sure this will affect many of the homeowners up and down the coast--both those now in court and those who might face this in the future.”

Whalers’ Village resident Don Paul added, “It’s history. All that’s left is for them tocome take the beach. And we’ll have to police it and maintain it.” He called the requirement “the most un-American thing I’ve ever seen.”

‘Why Fight?’

The Supreme Court’s refusal to review the Whalers’ Village case lets stand a state 2nd District Court of Appeal ruling that upheld the coastal panel’s authority to require public access in exchange for granting construction permits for seawalls designed to protect shoreline homes from high surf.

“There were a number of people waiting for this decision,” said Jamee Jordan Patterson, a deputy attorney general who represented the Coastal Commission. “A lot of people are going to realize, ‘Why fight?’ ”

The commission contends that concrete seawalls, rock revetments and wooden bulkheads put up by private communities cause a backwash that erodes sand from nearby public beaches. And eventually, commission officials say, the beach in front of the seawall also disappears, erasing state-owned tideland areas to which the public has a legal right.

In December, 1983, Ventura County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Soares ruled against the commission, calling its order in the Whalers’ Village case “an unlawful taking of property.” But the state appellate court reversed Soares’ decision in October and, in December, the state Supreme Court declined to review the case.

Patterson said a decision has not been made whether to pursue in trial court a $10,000 fine against Whalers’ Village for building the seawall in 1980 without a permit.

Other seaside developments that have sued the Coastal Commission on the seawall controversy include Malibu Colony in Los Angeles and Surfside Colony County, Capistrano Beach and Blue Lagoon in Orange County.

The commission is negotiating a settlement with the Blue Lagoon condominium complex. Settlement discussions with Malibu Colony fell apart last spring when residents rejected a compromise that would have limited hours of public use and prohibited outsiders from venturing within 20 feet of the houses.