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March 2, 2009 -

Shell Beach Access Litigation

Good article at MSNBC on ongoing litigation over public access at Shell Beach in San Luis Obispo county, and a ruling last month that a disputed trail is actually public due a prescriptive easement.

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October 17, 2006 -

Nudity, Arrg Matey

Today’s San Luis Obispo Tribune includes a good article by David Sneed on an ongoing effort by San Luis Obispo county to purchase Pirate’s Cove and 120 coastal acres from private owners to be included in a new county park. The article points out that the purchase would include an area currently used as a clothing-optional beach, and that San Luis Obispo County currently has no law prohibiting a nude beach.

If acquired, the property would likely become a county park, but it’s unclear what would happen to the nude beach if the county took over the property, said Pete Jenny, county parks director.

. . . .
“It’s not like grandma would be walking along the beach with the kids and suddenly there are naked people,” Jenny said. “That’s such a priceless piece of the coast; it’s worth trying to get the property and figure out what to do with the nudity issue later.”

In an online poll running with the article, readers were favoring maintaining the site’s status as a nude beach by a three to one margin.

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September 25, 2006 -

Keeping It Clean

Good article in the San Luis Obispo Tribune on that county’s water quality monitoring program

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June 30, 2006 -

No Boaters’ Right To View

Reviewing a court ruling blocking development of coastal property, the Second District of California’s Appellate Court held yesterday that no “boater’s right to view” exists under California law. The decision in Schneider v. California Coastal Commission returns the matter to the Commission to review using those standards set by the legislature, which did not include the boater’s right previously relied upon by the Commission in this case. Schneider first began this attempt to build a home in San Luis Obispo county in 1997.

The Appellate Court didn’t have much sympathy for the Commission, despite some sensitivity to the size of the proposed home (10,000 square feet) and the undeveloped status of the area, writing that:

The Coastal Commission has subordinated a landowner’s real property rights to the occasional boater’s “right to a view” of the coastline. If and when the California Legislature expressly codifies a boater’s “right to a view” of the coastline, the courts can and will lawfully give it credence. But the Coastal Commission is not empowered to legislate a boater’s “right to a view” of the coastline.

Justice Yegan’s opinion also clarified that “[i]n construing [the relevant law], we look to California law not the State of Maine or the U.S. Sailing Association” referring to the Commission’s claims from these non-parties that the view of the coast from occasional passing boaters required their protection.

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June 13, 2006 -

Morro Bay bans beach smoking

San Luis Obispo county had previously banned smoking on piers, but yesterday’s action by the Morro Bay city council extends that ban to city beaches.

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May 18, 2006 -

Dying Boats and DIY Moorings

From the San Luis Obispo Tribune:

A mooring is a permanent anchor on the floor of the bay, with a chain leading to the surface, and a floating marker at the end. It allows a boat to tie up to something in the middle of a bay rather than at a dock.

Over the past three decades, boaters in the Windy Cove area have made their own moorings — sometimes from a chunk of concrete, Hileman said — and installed them in an area where it’s illegal to anchor boats.

The article discusses case of a sixty-footer named Voyager that’s been illegally moored at Morro Bay since at least 2000, with no registered owner since 1999, as well as the problems of illegal moornings and abandoned boats generally. Local jurisdictions want to remove the now sinking boat, and are currently running pumps to keep it afloat at taxpayer expense, but are stalled by a maze of laws in their efforts to remove the boat they describe as unsalvagable.

The article discusses the problems of disposing of the environmental toxins on board as well as the lack of a clear path for government agencies to claim title and order the boat destroyed. Given the costs of berths and moorings, the incentive for the original moorers DIY is clear, but the question is how people have gotten away with it for so long.

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October 4, 2005 -

How the coast looks

Decision to save views from ocean is appealed: A law firm thinks the ruling, which upheld a policy preserving offshore vistas, infringes on property rights. San Luis Obispo Tribune article by David Sneed.

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Interesting Sites

70 Percent Good site focusing on reporting and documenting break conditions for waveriders
Coastal Marine Resource Center Non-profit from the New York-New Jersey Harbor Bight
Free PB Opposition to additional beach regulations at San Diego’s Pacific Beach
Race for the Oceans A forum for swimmers and swimming fans to dive in to ocean conservation.
Surfrider Foundation Activities and campaigns for clean water, beach access, beach preservation and protecting special places.