Scientific American Frontiers . Deep Crisis . Who Owns the Sea




	Public vs. Private Americans love the beach. Though the coast accounts for less than one-fifth of the United States' area, it's still home to more than half of all Americans, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). In California, a whopping 80% of residents live within an hour's drive of the state's beaches - largely lined by celebrity-owned mega-mansions. But who really owns the beach? While 58% of the state's coastline is privately owned, California law says everything below the high-tide line is public property. Moreover, the 1976 Coastal Act prohibits developers from blocking existing public access to the beach and requires new construction to include routes from the nearest road to the shoreline. Many wealthy owners of seaside estates have tried to get around these rules -one well-known director is alleged to have offered to pay for a bus to take beach-goers to another beach. But so far, the state has held firm, most recently dismissing a law suit brought by David Geffen, a music industry mogul with a beachfront home in Malibu. The suit challenged the California Coastal Commission's (CCC) right to require property owners to allow beach access. Though Geffen had agreed to provide public access in exchange for a building permit, he felt differently about the issue after finding strangers in his living room. On December 6th, 2002, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Yaffe dismissed the case, buoying the CCC's chances of realizing its 12 proposed access ways to Malibu's 27 miles of coast. With plenty of money and celebrity in opposition, Geffen's case isn't likely to be the last word on this issue, which has been argued in the courts since 1925, when the Supreme Court ordered an eccentric widow to stop protecting the borders of her beachfront property with armed guards. For more about the tension between public and private property rights, see: The California Coastal Commission's homepage http://www.coastal.ca.gov/web/ The City of Malibu homepage http://www.ci.malibu.ca.us/ Click on a thumbnail picture to learn about other water rights decisions: