California Coastal Commission

Newport Beach and Huntington Beach React Differently to Fire Pit Pollution Findings

Call it "A Tale of Two City Takeaways:" Newport Beach and Huntington Beach's mayors, at opposite ends on whether to remove fire rings along their beaches, heard--and reacted differently to--state data indicating what's emitted from a pit over one evening equals the pollution spewed by a heavy duty d ... More >>

Coastal Commission Raised Questions of Poseidon Honesty Years Ago

Poseidon Resources Inc., the company hoping to build a $1 billion desalination plant on Huntington Beach Shores, left out vital information when applying for a permit for its Carlsbad facility in 2007. That's according to California Coastal Commission (CCC) documents obtained by the Weekly which say ... More >>

Coastal Commission Raises More Concerns About Surf City Desalination Plant

If Poseidon Resources Inc. hopes to have its yet-to-be built Huntington Beach desalination rig online by 2017, it must answer several tough questions about its viability. That was the basic gist of a California Coastal Commission letter sent to company Vice President Scott Maloni last Monday. The si ... More >>

Seal Beach City Council Approves Letter of Interest For Desalinated Water

The Seal Beach Sun is reporting that the city council has unanimously approved a non-binding letter of interest regarding the purchase of water from Poseidon Resources Inc., the Connecticut-based company proposing a $1 billion desalination plant in Huntington Beach. But before thirsty Seal Beachers ... More >>

Huntington Beach Visitors Bureau Petitions Air Quality Regulators to Allow Fire Rings

You seen Change.org mentioned on this site for various petition drives, from those calling for the firing or reprimanding of all six Fullerton Police officers involved in the Kelly Thomas murder to a Seal Beach massacre victim's husband seeking tighter gun control law--to even a plea for gender-neut ... More >>

Coastal Commission Delays Fire Rings' Ruling

Deciding it wants to await a state Air Quality Management District decision on Newport Beach's fire rings, the California Coastal Commission on Wednesday postponed its own ruling on the controversial pits.Meeting at a San Diego resort--commission meeting sites rotate up and down the Golden State's v ... More >>

Coastal Commission May Douse Newport Beach Bid to Remove Beach Fire Rings

Who knew the California Coastal Commission was lord of the rings?Fire rings, that is.Specifically, the 60 fire pits the City of Newport Beach wants removed from the Balboa Pier area and Corona del Mar State beaches because they are proving to be a liability in these sue-happy times.

[BREAKING:] California Coastal Commission Denies PG&E Seismic Studies Off Central Coast

See the breaking news update at the end of this post on the Coastal Commission's denial of PG&E's seismic studies proposal and foe Surfrider's reaction.ORIGINAL POST, NOV. 13, 12:02 P.M.: As the Coastal Commission considers Pacific Gas & Electric's Fukushima-inspired plan to fire underwater ... More >>

Sea Otters Get Coastal Commission Assist as Shellfish Groups Take Aim

Environmental and mammal-protection groups are hailing a recent California Coastal Commission vote they say will allow sea otters to swim freely and legally in Southern California waters.This is the result of the commission deciding unanimously last week that a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposa ... More >>

[UPDATED with Plug-In Memorial:] Doug Korthof, Enviro and Electric-Car Activist, Loses Battle with Lung Cancer

​UPDATE, FEB. 14, 2:31 P.M.: What a wonderful way to mark Valentine's Day: Adopt a Charger ("Accelerating the adoption of plug-in vehicles via fee-free electric car chargers") has established the Doug Korthof Memorial Charger Fund. Money raised will be used to install and maintain a charging stati ... More >>

OCTA Thanks Congress for Transportation Bill Language Friendly to Finishing Toll Road

​When one author praises another on a book jacket, and the second author then does the same on the first author's tome, that's logrolling. It's a practice that's also common among academics and movie critics. In politics, logrolling happens when political favors are exchanged, even among members o ... More >>

Bolsa Chica Mesa Landowner Fined $430,000 for Damaging Ancient Native American Village

​A near-unanimous California Coastal Commission and the Goodell Family Trust have agreed on a settlement that will have the property owner paying a $430,000 fine for unearthing artifacts at the Cogged Stone Site, the 9,000-year-old Native American village on the mesa overlooking the Bolsa Chica w ... More >>

[UPDATED: Gates Still Locked, Surfrider Speaks] Dana Point: Unlock the Gates, Let Them Have Beach Access, Court Rules

Chasen Marshall/OC WeeklyEven Jim Moriarty, CEO of Surfrider Foundation, is locked out.​UPDATE, JUNE 16, 11:51 A.M.: It's been 15 days since the San Diego Superior Court ruled that The Strand at Headlands development in Dana Point needed to stop preventing beach access to the public. At 7 a.m. on ... More >>

Coastal Commisssion Votes in Favor of Medical Pot Clubs

​Not sure how we missed this, but kudos to The Orange County Register for reporting that the California Coastal Commission voted--against the recommendation of its own staff--to deny Laguna Beach's effort to seek its approval for a ban on marijuana dispensaries. The Jan. 19 story by Claudia Koerne ... More >>

[UPDATED] Frog House Surf Shop [Not Quite] Saved

​UPDATE, FEB. 21, 5:02 P.M.: When we last checked into the Frog House, the legendary surf shop was working with the city to remain in the west Newport Beach spot it has darkened since 1962.But there is one thing you can say without reservation about the City of Newport Beach: It's not the Californ ... More >>

Judge to Bay Island: Bridge is Public

Brandon Ferguson​For decades, residents of über-exclusive Bay Island have had the  benefit of a narrow salt-water moat that which prevented the beach goers from getting too close to their million-dollar homes. Now, thanks to a ruling by Orange County Superior Court Judge Tam Nomoto, island r ... More >>

Sunday News Notes

​News highlights include:Meg Whitman's cash is buying her second placeCathleen Decker of the LA Times reports that new polling shows Jerry Brown gaining a "slight edge" over Meg Whitman and that Barbara Boxer has "opened a wider margin over GOP nominee Carly Fiorina in the race for U.S. Senate. ... More >>

Surfrider Foundation Strikes Back for Access to Beach Below Dana Point Headlands

​Dana Point sued the state last month to keep locks and posted hours on gates leading to the Headlands' access paths to the public coastline. Now, the Surfrider Foundation--the San Clemente-based nonprofit that promotes the right to low-impact, free and open access to the world's waves and beach ... More >>

Dana Point Sues State to Keep Gates Locked to Headlands' Public-Access Paths

Keep off!​Remember all that crap flowing about guaranteeing public access to the magnificent Dana Point Headlands while plans were winding through the city and state for a gated community of 118 multimillion-dollar homes atop the bluff?The operative word above is "bluff."

[UPDATED] Huntington Beach to Annex Sacred Indian Site

Photo by Russ Roca Chief Anthony Morales came up empty at November 2008 California Coastal Commission hearing.​ UPDATE: Jaimee Lynn Fletcher reports in Orange County Register: HUNTINGTON BEACH--The city will absorb an unincorporated county island that some environmentalists believe is an A ... More >>

One Little, Two Little, Three Little Indian Rifts at Bolsa Chica

For Chief Anthony Morales of the Gabrielino-Tongva Band of Mission Indians, his long fight for the dignified treatment of Native American remains unearthed on the mesa overlooking the Bolsa Chica wetlands may finally be coming to an end. Healing a rift with rivals from the Juaneño Band of M ... More >>

Battle Over Bolsa Chica and Indian Bones Keeps Humming Along

When the California Coastal Commission meets in Huntington Beach on Thursday, panelists will be staring into at least one familiar face: that of Chief Anthony Morales of the Gabrielino-Tongva Band of Mission Indians (pictured). While the commission deals with coastal development ... More >>

Celebrate Saving Trestles by Tying One On. Or Two. Or a Dozen

The Surfrider Foundation South Orange County Chapter hosts a "Trestles Victory Party" at 8:30 p.m. Friday at O.C. Tavern, 2369 S El Camino Real, San Clemente. The little surfer girls and boys feel like hoisting a few in honor of the U.S. Commerce Department deciding against overturning the ... More >>

Toll Road Foister Jerry Amante: We're Doomed

As chairman of the Orange County Transportation Authority, the Transportation Corridor System Board of Directors and the Foothill/Eastern Transportation Corridor Agency (TCA), Tustin City Councilman Jerry Amante (pictured) is all over the news today, reacting bitterly to the Commerce Secretary Carl ... More >>

Native American Saga, Part 2: So Many Bones, So Little Time

"Next is another fun item," joked Chairman Bill Mungary as the California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC) moved on to the controversy surrounding remains unearthed on the mesa above the Bolsa Chica wetlands after a lengthy debate over the treatment of buried remains at Miss ... More >>

State Panel Backs Native Americans Battling Bolsa Chica Project

After local Native Americans and the Bolsa Chica Land Trust lost their bid before the California Coastal Commission last month to halt Brightwater/Hearthside Homes construction on the Bolsa Chica mesa until they could be satisfied Indian bones were being handled properly, Anthony Morales&n ... More >>

Handle With Care

Bolsa Chica Preservation

Toll Road Warriors

California Coastal

CA Coastal

Saving Trestles: Game On!

The on-again, off-again hearing on the 241 Foothill South toll road extension by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce is back on, from 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Sept. 22, and in an old/new home, O'Brien Hall at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, or the same place the California Coastal Commission met, took testimony ... More >>

How New Developments in Laguna Beach Will (and Won't) Deal With the Pollution in Aliso Creek

Army Tackles Toll Road

When supporters of the 241 (Foothill-South) toll road and its builder, the Transportation Corridor Agencies, hear opponents claim they'll stop the project, the reply is usually along the lines of, "You and what army?" The United States Army, assholes. That's right, the Army is finally providing the ... More >>

Thanks For Nothing

The Transportation Corridor Agencies, whose Foothill-South (241) toll road extension was recently vetoed by the California Coastal Commission, sent out the following letter to its supporters. My edits are in italicized bold. Dear Supporter: Thank you for your ongoing support for the completion of ... More >>

They Didn't Pave Paradise: The top 10 reasons why the Foothill South Toll Road extension failed

The Real Reason Why 241 Toll Road Plan Failed!

Full disclosure: I'm not too informed on the 241 Toll Road. I don't see how extending it to San Onofre will reduce traffic on the 5 Freeway. I don't surf so don't particularly care if the legendary waves of Trestles disappeared. I do know that the Transportation Corridor Authority is one of Orange C ... More >>

Wake Up and Suck the Orange 2.7.08

DEAD END FOR TOLL ROAD: LA Times, OC Register - The California Coastal Commission voted 8-2 to deny the Transportation Corridor Agencies a coastal development permit for their Foothill-South (241). The Register says over 2,000 people showed up; the Times says over 3,500 attended. One surfer in atten ... More >>

YouTube Saves Trestles

The Save San Onofre Coalition really hopes the Coastal Commission is a buncha voyeurs. See, the SSOC (made up of Defenders of Wildlife, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Endangered Habitats League, Laguna Greenbelt, Surfrider Foundation, Audubon California, the California State Parks ... More >>

Hu-what?! Schwarzenegger gives toll road stamp of approval

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's neutral stance on the 241 toll road extension magically changed for the worse Tuesday, and the Los Angeles Times reports that he's now urging the California Coastal Commission to approve the much-opposed project. The people at the Transportation Corridor Agencies are pre ... More >>

Tuesday's Headlines & Surprises: Dana's Selective Memory

Can Bishop Brown Utter The Truth? Frank Mickadeit has an excellent column this morning on yesterday’s press conference by women who have been victimized at least three times--that would be: molested, ignored and then harassed--by Catholic Church officials. There will be more festivities today. Th ... More >>

New poll shows mixed bag on 241 toll extension

Photo by Craig Coppola/Courtesy Surfrider. A poll released this morning shows that OC voters are generally in favor of more toll roads, but not when they go through protected state parks. The poll, which was financed by the California State Parks Foundation, asked 400 voters from each of ... More >>

More woes for toll lovers

Apparently building a six lane, 16 mile long toll road right down the middle of an environmentally protected state park would break some hippy-dippy law from way back in the 70s, according to the eco-nazis at the California Coastal Commission via the Los Angeles Times. The commission released a 23 ... More >>

Road to Nowhere Fast

Foothill-South delayed until 2011, possibly forever

Coots!

Thats whos fighting to save our last wetlands for you whippersnappers

Turning Water into Whine

Environmental concerns stall HB desalination plant

Pick the Next State Coastal Commissioner

In the Sewage Pipeline

Anti-dumping bill picks up steam

The Year in Bits:July - December

Green With Anger

One mans campaign to save a wetland

Go with the Flow

Lightning Rod