Letters to the Editor: We should take the opportunity to preserve an unimpeded PCH view

To the editor: Maybe this silver lining is a golden opportunity for the California Coastal Commission to reclaim that glorious, unimpeded view along the Pacific Coast Highway for the public in perpetuity (“Malibu’s post-fire silver lining: a safer Pacific Coast Highway,” Oct. 22). While it is undoubtedly sad and painful for those living at the ocean’s edge to have lost their homes, perhaps it is actually a blessing in disguise.

Most of those structures were shoehorned onto impossibly tiny fragments of sand between the road and the sea, destined to be blasted away by the next vigorous storm generated by the inexorably rising tides of climate change.

Rather than rebuilding these precarious structures, the Coastal Commission should take advantage of this unique moment and buy out the owners and restore coastal access to the public, per its mission.

No doubt the financial complications would be daunting, but not impossible, and the moment is ripe. The buildings are gone; don’t rebuild them.

Sarah Tamor, Santa Monica

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To the editor: Is there anyone out there besides me who would love to continue to enjoy those ocean views while driving the PCH? While it’s unlikely that the state of California would opt to acquire this property by eminent domain, perhaps generous tax credits might motivate owners facing high construction costs, an eroding coastline and rising sea levels to donate their land to the state.

Janet Davis, Marina del Rey