LOS ANGELES — The California Coastal Commission on Thursday agreed to carve a mile of public beach out of ranch land that has been in private hands for more than a century.
The commission, which oversees coastal development, unanimously approved a deal that calls for the owners to fix damage to land they developed without permission and to transfer 36 acres of coastal property to Santa Barbara County. It will be used to extend a current public park at remote Jalama Beach, 150 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
The area is a rarity on the 21st-century central and southern coast of California — free of urban sprawl, crowds, cookie-cutter developments and freeways.
The settlement is important because “the public has been shut out…for well over a hundred years,” said Susan Jordan, executive director of the California Coastal Protection Network in Santa Barbara.
“You’re getting over a mile of additional coastline (in) one of the richest and most diverse areas in California,” she said.
The land sits between the south end of vast Vandenberg Air Force Base and Point Conception.
Once known as Bixby Ranch and owned by a famous California ranching family, the shoreline is part of what is now the Cojo Jalama Ranches that sprawl over more than 37 square miles, including 11 miles of coastline.
The transfer is part of a settlement negotiated by the Coastal Commission’s enforcement staff to mitigate unpermitted development that included grading land and installing dozens of water wells.
The settlement also includes payment of $500,000 to fund public access and environmental projects.
Reached via a country road off Highway 1, Jalama Beach currently is visited by surfers, fishermen, whale watchers, picnickers and has campsites and a handful of cabins for overnight stays, as well as a small market and grill.
http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/11/10/californians-may-gain-access-to-a-mile-of-rural-coast/
Private Property and Government Under the Constitution
Modern Intellectuals Do Not Take Private Property Seriously
The economic concept of private property refers to the rights owners have to the exclusive use and disposal of a physical object. Property is not a table, a chair, or an acre of land. It is the bundle of rights which the owner is entitled to employ those objects. The alternative (collectivist) view is that private property consists merely of a legal deed to an object with the use and disposal of the object subject to the whims and mercies of the state. Under this latter view, the state retains ownership and may at any time regulate or even repossess the property it temporarily cedes to individuals.
The Founding Fathers upheld the economic view of property. They believed that private property ownership, as defined under common law, pre-existed government. The state and federal governments were the mere contractual agents of the people, not sovereign lords over them. All rights, not specifically delegated to the government, remained with the people–including the common-law provisions of private property. Consequently, the constitutional rights regarding free speech, freedom of religion, the right of assembly, and private property rights are all claims that individuals may hold and exercise against the government itself. In brief, private property refers to the rights of owners to use their possessions which are enforceable against all nonowners–even the government.
https://fee.org/articles/private-property-and-government-under-the-constitution/
Not as cut and dry as I would have hoped, I guess they're lucky they only decided to take a mile of beach front....for now
