Personal Beachfront Bests and Worsts

Coastal business owners, marine scientists and beach-dwellers have a personal stake in the political battles raging around the California Coastal Commission, featuring Gov. Wilson’s pro-development appointees on one side and the conservationist old guard on the other. JIM BLAIR talked with a restaurant manager, an economics professor, a marine biologist, an artist and others about what they see as the best and worst spots along the coast.

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BRIAN BRENNAN: General manager, Chart House Restaurant, Ventura; Ventura County chairman, Surfrider Foundation.

As a surfer and a beach user, when somebody says, “‘Tell me a great spot on the coast,” what comes to mind is Rincon Point, here in Ventura County, with its beautiful sandy beach. It’s probably one of the premier surf spots in California.

The greatest problem I see is inshore erosion. Armoring [the coastline] with bulkheads and jetties greatly affects the sand flows along the beaches. That, quite honestly, is the greatest concern not just for Surfrider but for me as a business person--when I sit here and look at the beaches actually going away and not coming back.

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GARY M. GALLES: Professor of economics, Pepperdine University, Malibu.

As a regular on the Pacific Coast Highway, I recognize the value of protecting our coast. But we have gone about it unfairly. The California Coastal Commission grew from Proposition 20, which was incredibly vague, failing to address issues of costs or compensation for expropriating private property.

My least favorite place would be in Ventura, not because Ventura is ugly, but because that was the location where the Nollan beach access decision was based and because it illustrates how the California Coastal Commission has tried to use those extortionist policies.

These people [the Nollans] had a little bungalow near the beach and decided to tear it down and build a larger house. The Coastal Commission said OK, but only if you give us additional public access to the water.

The good part is that ultimately the Supreme Court ruled that they couldn’t impose such a requirement on the Nollans.

So maybe that’s my most favorite place, too, because it holds out a glimmer of hope that if the government were ever forced to adhere in all circumstances to this precedent, the commission would be less able to extort property owners who wish to develop.

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KATHLEEN BLACKBURN: Laguna Beach City Council member.

What is right about the coast? Certainly the coast of Laguna Beach is, to me, one of the most magnificent examples of a beautiful ocean coastline in Southern California. It has rocky coves, cliffs and long sandy beaches in places. It is a very diversified strip of ocean coastline that’s very special and in some parts very reminiscent of the Mediterranean coast, but hardly as densely developed.

The flip side? The nuclear power plant at San Onofre. It is a jarring, aesthetically ugly thing and, I think, bodes of frightening consequences. Certainly it provides our electricity, but I think it’s just a real abomination on the beautiful aesthetics of our coastline.

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ROBBIE CONAL: Artist, Mar Vista.

The thing that makes me go, “Wow!” is that the sea creatures are back. I’m ecstatic. I think that’s one of the things that we’ve actually done right environmentally in California: succeeding in getting the coastline back in some kind of livable shape for sea creatures and land creatures alike.

I did a poster for Heal the Bay called “Fish Out of Water”--a puffer fish holding its breath until Congress cleaned up its dirty water act. But we seem to be doing pretty well with that.

My wife and I were up in Inverness. Go a little bit out into the bay and you’re just about swimming with dolphins and flying fish fly right along with your kayak; it’s wonderful. We were also down in Redondo--same thing.

The thing that [makes me sick] is that disturbing oil slick that’s heading down the coast that looks like Pete Wilson [getting ready] to slime all over the Coastal Commission.

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SUSANNE LAWRENZ-MILLER: Director, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, San Pedro.

In terms of what’s right along the California coast: most of the state beaches as you drive north above Los Angeles, all those areas that have a lot of open space left with the natural vegetation. One of my favorite places is the Point Lobos area up in Central California. There are places where people can walk, but it’s left with all natural vegetation so you’ve got a good buffer zone and natural shoreline.

The worst? Just in terms of physical appearance, it’s all those places where everything is built right up to the shoreline or waterways where there’s no natural shoreline left. Everything is marinas. And much of Southern California, unfortunately, is like that.

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MARTY COOPER: Owner, Malibu Beach Inn Hotel.

What is right is what hasn’t changed: the way you live here connected to the sea through all of its incarnations, experiencing the hills as the seasons change and to be able to raise great kids who will always be connected to the sea and Malibu. And all this while having the resources of Los Angeles at our fingertips.

Something that is right is also the idea of recycling older, unattractive development to be more in harmony with the coastline. I have in mind Duke’s of Hawaii--a major, major change for the better. They’ve gone in there and taken that horrible derelict building and turned it into a virtual Hawaiian paradise. I really the idea of taking the older stuff that doesn’t work and turning it into something that works.

What is wrong? I think it’s wrong to bring the city to the coast with out-of-scale development which will change the area forever. The tourism question is the great double-edged sword. It is all up in the air now. Call me back in 10 years and we’ll see how it turned out.