U2 guitarist The Edge and three fellow property owners filed four lawsuits Friday challenging the California Coastal Commission’s rejection of their proposal to build a series of mansions in the Sweetwater Mesa area near Malibu. The commission voted 8-4 on June 16 to deny coastal development permits to build four luxury homes on 156 acres of environmentally sensitive land, as well as a 6,010-foot access road extending from Sweetwater Mesa Road.
In addition to concerns over environmental and visual impacts, the commission branded the project a “coordinated development scheme,” i.e., one owner (The Edge, whose real name is David Evans) with the intent to build five houses and sell them at a profit. The owners of the properties are all either friends, family or business associates of Evans.
The property owners had until Aug. 15 to challenge the commission’s ruling in court, which they did Friday.
“When we buy property zoned for residential use, we expect to be able to build a home. But in this case, after years of working cooperatively with the Coastal Commission and  planning the most environmentally sensitive homes possible, government changed the rules and is now denying these families the right to use their land,” Fiona Hutton, spokesperson for the property owners, said in a press release. “Regrettably, the only method of appealing the commission’s decision is to ask the court to step in
and protect these property owners’ rights.” Â
The commission’s outgoing executive director, Peter Douglas, had sharp words for the project after it was rejected.
“In 38 years of the commission’s existence, this is one of the three worst projects that I’ve seen in terms of environmental devastation,” Douglas told the Los Angeles Times after the June 16 vote. “It’s a contradiction in terms-you can’t be serious about being an environmentalist and pick this location given the effects on habitat, land formation, scenic views and water quality.”
The commission’s vote also invalidated a controversial agreement reached between the property owners and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. The conservancy voted to drop its opposition to the project in April in exchange for $1 million in donations, as well as consulting work and a slew of conservations and development restrictions on the homes that would allow for the construction of a trail through the property in the future.
Critics of the deal charged that the owners of the project had effectively bought off the SMMC. SMMC head Joe Edmiston said that the donations would be valuable and beneficial for future users of the trail. However, the deal was contingent on the Coastal Commission approving the project.