State Response to Beach Curfew Plan Is Called Intrusive : Coastal access: Officials assail proposed ‘case-by-case’ reviews of local ordinances.

Calling it an unworkable solution to the beach curfew controversy, city officials in Orange County on Thursday criticized a proposal to help local governments “maximize” beach access and protect public safety through new funding legislation.

The proposal is part of a list of recommendations made by Peter Douglas, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, in preparation for a commission workshop on beach access Wednesday in San Diego.

“It sounds like (Douglas) again is proposing to set guidelines for local governments,” said San Clemente Mayor Scott Diehl. “I certainly understand the mission of the Coastal Commission and its staff. But we at the local level are charged to balance our resources and to govern locally.

“From a reality standpoint,” Diehl said “the idea they’re proposing is contrary to budget reality. You have to keep in mind the money problems the state, the cities and the county are now going through.”

Ron Hagan, Huntington Beach director of community services, said any legislative approach seeking more funding for beaches would be a “dream recommendation.”

On Jan. 28, after meeting with representatives of six Orange County coastal cities, Douglas said the state would not challenge the curfews the cities recently imposed to help curb late-night crime on their beaches.

The gathering was one of several meetings between state and local officials to iron out their differences after a Coastal Commission warning last October, to 73 cities and counties along the state’s 1,100-mile coastline, that beach curfews are illegal without state approval.

Douglas said in a telephone interview Thursday that the intent of his recommendations was to offer feedback only. At the Jan. 28 meeting, he said, local representatives told him they do not have enough money to maintain and patrol beaches that are open to the public at night.

“They said that if the state wants us to keep our beaches open for everyone, then the state should come in and provide some support,” Douglas said. “Even though local governments get economic revenue from operating a beach, I thought we ought to try and help local governments find a source of funding if we can.

“If the commission isn’t interested, then we won’t,” Douglas said, adding that he was not suggesting that he has found “a hidden money trove to tap into.”

However, more than one local official voiced concern with yet another recommendation on beach curfew ordinances.

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Douglas wrote that unless the commission directs its staff to do otherwise, staff members will meet with individual local governments to “discuss the relevant ordinances, if any, and suggest modifications, if needed, to address Coastal Act concerns.” The act ensures beach access.

“Pending this review on a case-by-case basis, it is staff’s intent to maintain the status quo relative to existing beach-closure ordinances,” Douglas said in his recommendations to the commission.

Hagan said he interpreted the case-by-case review as being contrary to what Douglas had told local officials earlier. According to Hagan, the executive director said that he did not want to “micro-manage” local governments from Sacramento.

“But here he is again, saying that they want to study these ordinances on a case-by-case basis,” Hagan said.

In response, Douglas said he told the local officials that although the state will not challenge beach curfews, they still must be reviewed by the commission for possible violations of the state’s Coastal Act.

Douglas said that this is especially true for Huntington Beach. He said city officials gave him a copy of the beach ordinance, but it does not mention whether fishing was permitted at night.

“I was told . . . by Huntington Beach officials that (night) fishing is OK, but that wasn’t in the ordinance I got,” Douglas said. “And in fact, through city officials, I learned that they allow fishing and that it was implicit but not contained in the ordinance. Well, from our perspective, it’s problematic.”