Palos Verdes officials appear to give few f*cks about the Coastal Commission’s order to remove the illegal stone fort at Lunada Bay.Photo: Exhibit from Lawsuit
The city home to Lunada Bay basically just told the California Coastal Commission to “eat a D” over the illegal stone fort on public coastal land. Palos Verdes Estates, the location of L.A.’s infamous, allegedly gang-protected, big wave-y mushburger, said it would not comply with a deadline to tear down or seek permitting for a stone fort near the wave.
On Monday, the Coastal Commission instructed the city to deal with the fort by July 6. But on Tuesday, city manager Anton Dahlerbruch replied with a whole lot of nope, informing the state that it would not meet that deadline. Dahlerbruch said that the city would have a preliminary plan by September.
The Coastal Commission has conveyed the unlikeliness of approving a permit for the fort, allegedly a kind of headquarters for the local surf gang Lunada Bay Boys, given that the fort is on public property. The Coastal Commission, a body that oversees all coastal development, has jurisdiction over the fort. But it has no power to enforce things like the fort’s removal — a fact likely not lost on the power brokers of Palos Verdes.
If you’ve been living inside a barrel for the past couple of months, here’s the deal: The surf scene at Lunada Bay has long been a cross between “Point Break” and “Westside Story.” For years, the Bay Boys have been reputed to hassle outsiders who paddled out at the L.A. area’s premier big wave. Things kind of boiled over this winter as El Nino rolled through, attracting non-locals brave or stupid enough to try to snag a few rights off the point. In March, a couple of surfers filed a class action lawsuit, alleging local surfers were part of a gang illegally blocking public access to the beach and lineup, and that city police and officials turned a blind eye to longstanding complaints.
