Greater LA
Why coastal development in Malibu goes unregulated
You’ve probably walked down a staircase to access one of the beaches in Malibu. You have that access because of a voter-approved proposition that dates back to 1972. The initiative created the California Coastal Commission.
By Steve Chiotakis • • 1 min readYou’ve probably walked down a staircase to access one of the beaches in Malibu. You have that access because of a voter-approved proposition that dates back to 1972. The initiative created the California Coastal Commission. For the past 47 years, it’s worked to regulate land use, and allow you to enjoy the more than 840 miles of California’s coast.
That access, along with affordable lodging by the beach, is the subject of a new documentary that premieres tonight on KCET’s SoCal Connected. It’s called “Access Denied.”
Here’s how coastal development is supposed to go: the developer appears before the Coastal Commission to get approval to build. The commission looks over the proposal. If a development blocks public access to the beach, they either nix the deal, or require the developer to build in access.
However, that process hasn’t happened with a lot of recent developments in Malibu.
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