Caltrans Plans to Remove Illegal Deck

Unable to find a sympathetic state agency to rescue of their tiny seaside community, the residents of La Conchita will soon lose a community gathering spot--a sun deck built illegally on part of the beach owned by Caltrans.

“I gave the people one month to find another state agency [to take] responsibility and liability for the deck,” Dave Servaes, Caltrans regional director, said Wednesday. “I have not received anything, so I will proceed with having the illegal encroachment . . . removed.”

La Conchita is separated from the Pacific Ocean by a four-lane highway, and the most direct way for residents to reach the surf is to dodge speeding traffic on the Ventura Freeway, or to crawl 100 feet through a 4-foot-high drainage ditch. Either way residents must descend mountainous boulders to reach the sand.

Otherwise, locals have to drive several miles to a place where they can turn onto the freeway’s southbound lanes adjacent to the beach.

So last spring, several locals built a deck and stairs to the beach. But because the deck was constructed on a Caltrans right of way without permission and does not meet the agency’s building specifications, it must be removed, officials say.

Servaes told La Conchita residents last month they had 30 days to find another agency, such as the Parks and Recreation Department, to assume ownership, maintenance and liability for the deck and vicinity, or he would tear it out.

Townspeople met with various local and state agencies. The California Land Commission intervened to ask Caltrans for an extension, but Caltrans refused.

Servaes said Caltrans soon expects to send cranes to remove the deck. But La Conchita residents vow to fight to maintain their beach-going lifestyle.

“Why even live here if you have to drive all the way around. We might as well live in Ventura,” said Karen Oren, who has organized meetings between residents and Caltrans. “We were hoping we could do this is an orderly way . . . but this fight is not over.”