The California Coastal Commission handed two Malibu property owners $5.1 million in fines on Thursday for denying public access to the beach.
The Commission ordered West Hollywood real estate investors Simon and Daniel Mani, who bought the Malibu Beach Inn from David Geffen in 2015, to build two stairways to the sand, install a signalized crosswalk, and pay $200,000 in fines as well as $300,000 to a local conservation agency, the L.A. Times reported.
Their boutique hotel sits on the ultra-exclusive Carbon Beach.
The Commission also issued a cease and desist order and a $4.2 fine against the owners of a separate property, in what it called a “very egregious” case. The owners, Dr. Warren Lent and Henny Lent, had refused to take down an unauthorized gate, fence, stairway and deck that blocked a required entrance to Las Flores beach.
The decisions will create two new entry points to Malibu’s beaches that have long been inaccessible to the public.
“This represents an attitude we often see in Malibu — that the shore is our private backyard,” Commissioner Mark Vargas told the Times, criticizing those who damage the “public’s right to use the beach.” [LAT] — Gabrielle Paluch