The history of California’s most loosely kept secret surf zone is a common coastal development trope. On one hand, wealthy landowners at Hollister Ranch have managed to find workarounds to state laws pertaining to public access with few concessions over the years. They see themselves as environmental activists doing their part to protect one of the last bastions of wild coastline in the state by keeping out the hoi polloi. California state agencies and lawmakers, on the other hand, view the Hollister Ranch issue as one of the final frontiers in the successful roll-out of the landmark 1976 California Coastal Act, which stipulates California beaches are a public resource. A new bill in the state legislature, though, may finally put the decades-long issue to bed.
Introduced back in February by Assemblymember Monique Limón, who represents part of Santa Barbara County in the state assembly, AB 2534 would create a specific fund for the express purpose of acquiring property necessary to implement a public access plan dating back to 1982 that never materialized.
The bill has received the express support of the California Coastal Commission. “As Chair of the California Coastal Commission, I want to extend my heartfelt gratitude to you for introducing AB 2534, which would establish two dedicated subaccounts for in-lieu fees and other funds to provide long-delayed public access at Hollister Ranch in Santa Barbara County,” wrote Coastal Commission Chair Dayna Bochco in a letter of support obtained by The Inertia. “AB 2534 will not remove every roadblock to opening public access to Hollister Ranch. But it will set the state back on course, and provide a solid foundation upon which to build future efforts.”
Assemblymember Limón introduced the bill in tandem with negotiations between the Coastal Commission and the Hollister Ranch Owners association who reached a settlement back in May that effectively relinquished the only existing public access route via land. The flood of public comments against the settlement, including a scathing op-ed in the New York Times, were what prompted Assemblymember Limón to galvanize her colleagues to support her legislation.
“After seeing the outpour of thousands of public comments calling for greater access, it was clear that Californians wanted the state to step in,” said Limón in a press release. “No person should be denied access to the beautiful coastline that our state has to offer.”
In the aforementioned article that appeared in the Times, columnist Kathleen Sharp went so far as to say efforts by the Hollister Ranch Owners Association to block public access smacked of economic and racial discrimination. “Some homeowners feared that allowing the public onto the beach would lure hordes who would litter it,” she wrote. “Since Santa Barbara County is 46 percent Hispanic and has the highest rate of child poverty in California, at 28.8 percent, one could argue that there’s a whiff of economic and racial discrimination in that fear.”
It’s in the spirit of fighting discrimination, it would seem, Assemblymember Limón’s bill has picked up steam.
“California beaches are public resources that should be available for everyone to enjoy regardless of their zip code,” said Limón. “It is my hope that we can move towards a more equitable outcome.”
