The City of Dana Point has agreed to public access to Strands Beach.
The Surfrider Foundation have been fighting for public access for six years.
A formalized agreement has been submitted to the California Coastal Commission for their approval.
The Surfrider Foundation issued the following statement on their website: Continue reading “Dana Point Strands Beach Public Access Agreement Reached April 4 2016”
UPDATE: Dana Point City Council passed their resolution to continue to have locked gates at Strands Beach.
The Council revised the hours from one hour before sunrise and one hour after sunset.
They based their decision on public safety issues.
Restrictive access to Dana Point’s Strands Beach will be discussed at the Dana Point City Council meeting Tuesday November 3 2015 at 6:00pm.
The Dana Point City Council meets at Dana Point City Plaza located at 33282 Golden Lantern Street.
The Public is encouraged to attend.
The costly lengthly legal battle with the Surfrider Foundation and the California Coastal Commission over the public’s right to
access over Strands Beach is ongoing for the City of Dana Point.
Dana Point has spent five years in litigation and have suffered four Court losses over the Strands Beach access.
Dana Point suffered its most recent loss on September 17 2015 with the California Superior Court.
The Court ruled that the city of Dana Point could not use claims of teenage partying to limit public beach access
through a gated community of multimillion dollar homes.
In a strongly worded decision the Court found that the city’s emergency ordinance was based on “nothing more than speculation, conjecture and fear mongering.”
The Dana Point City Council is now proposing access to Strands Beach from one hour before sunrise and one hour after sunset.
The Council will also recommend that the existing gates be put on automatic timers for the proposed time restrictions.
This is in direct conflict with the California Coastal Commission’s directive to the City of Dana Point on this matter.
The California Coastal Commission responded to the Dana Point City Council upcoming November 3 2015 meeting that would officially put restrictions to Strands Beach access in a letter to the council dated October 30 2015.
The California Coastal Commission states “… We urge the city council to uphold it’s responsibility to protect and uphold public coastal access and deny the gates and proposed hours of operation..”.
The California Coastal Commission October 30 2015 letter to the City of Dana Point reminds the City that this new proposal is not permitted and it obstructs the public access to Strands Beach.
The California Coastal Commission also states that Dana Point’s desire to restrict access to Strands Beach is not consistent with Dana Point’s Local Coastal Program (LCP) and with the Public’s Access and Recreation Policies of Chapter 3 of the California Coastal Act.
The Surfrider South Orange County Chapter is urging the public to attend tonight’s meeting and support full access to Strands Beach.
Surfrider is also supporting the public directly contacting the Dana Point City Council through their public email accounts.
Here is some of the California Coastal Commission Background of this five year legal battle in a Press Release dated September 18 2015 Continue reading “California Coastal Commission Urges Dana Point To Open Strands Beach: Dana Point Council Meets Tuesday November 3 2015”
