Ban houses so boaters can have pristine views of the coast?
Incredible as it sounds, the California Coastal Commission is actively implementing this policy in the name of protecting “scenic resources.”
Seems the Commission got fired up about the idea after a boater complained about seeing homes during a recent voyage. Last month, the Commission’s Executive Director, Peter Douglas, issued a memorandum expressing his determination to solve the boaters’ “problem” by restricting any development that might impede offshore views of the coast.
To justify this latest regulatory squeeze on property owners, Douglas put on a poet’s hat. “People who come…to be on the water are a community of users whose enjoyment of the coast for recreation, to find solace and inspiration, or to be with wild nature is also deserving of careful stewardship,” he lyricized. To protect the quality of an ocean “sojourn,” Douglas vowed to minimize “human works, particularly along rugged reaches of rural coast.”
Translation: If your home can be seen from the sea, it’s probably not going to be built at all.
Nothing in the Coastal Act authorizes this rule. Indeed, the Commission might as well ban boats so homeowners will have pristine ocean views. But it won’t. Originally created to ensure environmentally sound land use, while protecting property rights, today’s Commission continues to demonstrate a bias against landowners. Homes for people are out; protecting the “quality of a sojourn” for a “community of users” is in.
For such utopian goals, the Commissioners increasingly restrict building; the supply of new homes keeps dwindling, and the price of living or vacationing near the beach keeps getting higher. In the end, the Commission will put the California dream out of reach for all but the most wealthy.
But hey, at least the fishermen will have a nice view.
J. David Breem
Pacific Legal Foundation attorney