Entertainment mogul David Geffen’s battle with the California Coastal Commission over public access near his Carbon Beach home could finally come to end this week at the commission’s meeting in San Diego. But Geffen might have to give up a stairwell.
The commission is expected to vote this Wednesday on finalizing the deal to put an easement on the property in the hands of the public access group, Access for All, while it grants after-the-fact approval for most of the remodeling Geffen did on his home in 1983. However, a stairwell that the commission said is in the public easement, is not included in the deal. The commission staff is recommending that Geffen tear down the stairwell, and build another one elsewhere. The 12-member Coastal Commission voting body has the final say on the matter.
Geffen’s attorney, Steve Amerikaner, said in an interview on Tuesday that he plans to fight for the stairwell at the meeting because when the commission originally approved Geffen’s remodeling in 1983, the stairwell was part of the deal.
“It was permitted,” Amerikaner said. “They let us build it there. We shouldn’t have to move it.”
The Coastal Commission granted Geffen the permit to remodel his home, including constructing the stairwell, in 1983. As part of an agreement, Geffen offered a public access route from Pacific Coast Highway to the beach. But nobody would accept the responsibility of the access point for several years. Then in 2002, Steve Hoye from Access for All agreed to manage the public access way.
Geffen then raised a series of legal challenges to the requirement to give up the access easement. After three years of court battles, Geffen eventually agreed to allow the easement two years ago.
The finalization of the deal has been delayed several times, mostly due to the stairwell disagreement.