Surfrider Wins Beach Access – Dana Point 0
The Surfrider Foundation won an important victory today when Judge Joan M. Lewis ruled in favor of open beach access at the Dana Point Strands Beach. Specifically, she ruled that the City of Dana Point’s severe beach access restrictions are unlawful because the record put forth by the City was “entirely lacking in evidentiary support for declaring a nuisance and that the City acted arbitrarily and capriciously in making such a declaration.”
“We are very pleased to see Judge Lewis rule in favor of the public interest at Strands Beach, instead of allowing the private development to lock out beachgoers from the main accessway at this beautiful beach,” says Surfrider Managing Attorney Angela Howe. “Surfrider Foundation brought this lawsuit to defend public beach access – a right that is sacred in California.”
From the beginning, Strands Developer Headlands Reserve LLC intended to provide a private beach for residents who purchase the multi-million dollar homes. In October 2008, the developer attempted to get out of building a central stairway to the beach, telling the California Coastal Commission that the Mid-Strand access stairway was “geo-technically infeasible.” The Commission saw through the excuse and required that the stairway be built. The case at hand was a result of the locked gates and restrictive hours installed at that central Mid-Vista stairway.
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