If It Weren’t for the Coastal Commission . . .

Re M. David Stirling’s June 18 op-ed piece, “Coastal Panel Is In Over Its Head”:

I am sure that most of us would agree that private citizens should not be able to treat the ocean floor just off our coast as their own private “laboratories,” in which they can perform experiments that alter the natural coastal ecology, without any regulation or oversight in the public’s interest.

Stirling curiously does not share that view.

It should be noted that Stirling speaks from the pulpit of the Pacific Legal Foundation, an organization that preaches that all land-use regulation is unconstitutional.

With well-funded backers, the foundation pursues litigation to challenge any regulation that restricts property owners’ use of land, in any manner whatsoever.

This April, after many years of courts rejecting the unpopular preaching of the foundation, a Sacramento County Superior Court trial judge, known primarily for his work in family law, agreed with the foundation’s argument that the Coastal Commission is constituted in a manner that violates the separation of powers clause of the California Constitution.

State attorneys believe that this trial court ruling will most likely be overturned, as the courts have consistently recognized the validity of state agencies formed in the manner of the Coastal Commission. Those of us who care about the future of California’s coast hope they are right.

When you look down the California coast, wherever you see open beaches, coastal wetlands and user-friendly access to the ocean, it is because of the California Coastal Act, mandated in 1972 by overwhelming vote of the people of California for Proposition 20.

Though those of us born more than 30 years ago remember that coastal open space was rapidly disappearing when the Coastal Act came to be, we must recognize that a whole generation of California citizens has grown up taking coastal open space for granted.

The Pacific Legal Foundation’s philosophy that anybody should be able to do whatever they want, not only to their own private property, but to public property as well, with no regulation or oversight, is an affront to all of us.

If we do not take on the responsibility to be stewards of our natural resources for coming generations, they will cease to exist.

Linda Sapiro Moon

President, Amigos de Bolsa Chica

Huntington Beach