The 86 rich people who own mansions along Malibu's rapidly eroding Broad Beach have been trying for years to find someone who will sell them enough sand to temporarily make the mile-long beach lovely again. They've tried and failed to convince Los Angeles County to give them sand from Dockweiler Beach and the city of Manhattan Beach to give up some off-shore sand—but on Friday, the California Coastal Commission finally approved a plan to bring in more than 2,000 truckloads of sand from quarries in Ventura County in order to "nourish" the beach, says City News Service.
The sand will cover an emergency rock wall that's been on the beach since 2010, recreating sand dune habitat and "a sloping public beach" along the water. Residents will have to hire trucks to "reclaim" sand that washes down the shore toward Zuma Beach, and the CCC also gave the ok for the residents to bring in more sand in five years, if more is needed. (It was previously anticipated the the sand would probably only last about 10 years.) Homeowners have created a tax district to raise the $31 million that the project's expected to cost; they've already burned through $5 million on legal fees and engineers.
The Commission also added a new requirement: that the Broad Beach homeowners transfer the property rights to the tops of the new dunes to the CCC so that they can become public. Homeowners along the beach have loudly fought public access to the part of the beach that is public (from the wet sand to the water), as have many rich Malibu homeowners, but now they "have pledged they will never again challenge members of the general public who use the renewed beach in front of their homes." Their lawyer says they event want to "fund the creation of a public beach" on the public beach in front of their houses.
· 2,000 truckloads of sand due in Malibu — on homeowners' dime [CNS]
· Rich Broad Beach's Plans to Harvest Sand From Manhattan [Curbed LA]
· Rich Malibuites Drop Plan to Harvest Sand From Manhattan [Curbed LA]
· Rich Malibuites Now Want to Harvest LA's Sand Off Dockweiler [Curbed LA]