The Commission approved the City of Marina’s groundbreaking update to its Local Coastal Program—a major win for coastal resilience and public access. The new plan prioritizes keeping Marina’s beaches natural and unarmored, ensuring future development avoids shoreline armoring and accounts for sea level rise

The Commission approved a creative enforcement settlement with the Sandbourne Hotel in Santa Monica to resolve long-standing permit violations, turning a missed obligation into a model for coastal responsibility. The agreement delivers major community benefits—including free employee transit, EV chargers, plastic-free operations, and funding for accessible beach wheelchairs—while reducing traffic, pollution, and barriers to the coast. It’s a powerful example of how strong enforcement can produce real, lasting wins for both people and the environment.

The Commission approved common-sense regulatory changes to make it easier to build affordable housing along California’s coast. The amendments extend the vesting period for 100% affordable housing projects from two to five years and double the length of permit extensions, giving developers more realistic timelines to secure complex public funding. By streamlining the process while maintaining strong environmental safeguards, the Commission is helping make coastal communities more affordable and accessible to people of all income levels.

Plastic pollution is a major threat to California’s coast, harming wildlife, water quality, and public access to beaches. By adopting this guidance, the Coastal Commission is using its authority to protect our coastal resources—benefiting all Californians. The guidance helps local governments and developers prevent plastic pollution at its source, keeping our beaches cleaner, our waters safer, and marine ecosystems healthier for generations to come.

After nearly a decade of failed attempts to amicably resolve alleged Coastal Act violations at a unique beach and lagoon-adjacent property in North Carlsbad, the Commission unanimously approved a significant enforcement action against the property owner. The alleged violations included blocking coastal access and unpermitted development within a conditioned wetland habitat buffer zone.

The Commission approved three separate, but similar, permits for beachfront homeowners in Santa Cruz to restack riprap boulders that had fallen from their permitted revetments onto the public beach.

The Commission unanimously approved Santa Monica’s Living Shorelines Project, which aims to establish and maintain almost 40 acres of coastal dune habitat across Santa Monica State Beach. A true multi-benefit solution, the project will provide myriad benefits to LA’s most popular beach

Commission requires Carlsbad beachfront homeowner to remove unpermitted retaining walls and grading in their blufftop, beach-facing backyard.

On Thursday, the Commission approved a permit for the repair of an approximately 700 foot-long rock revetment fronting 19 residential lots along South Pacific Avenue in Oceanside.

The Commission approved a joint seawall application for three neighboring properties along Pleasure Point Drive in Santa Cruz.

The Coastal Commission’s enforcement division issued a consent cease and desist and administrative penalty action against Paradise Point Resort before the Commission.

The Commission approved a sand restoration project at Surfers Beach in Pillar Point Harbor, Half Moon Bay.

The Commission approved the City of Manhattan Beach’s local coastal program update for coastal hazards with staff’s suggested modifications. Manhattan Beach faces climate change and sea level rise vulnerability over the coming decades - especially with public infrastructure, storm drain outfalls and sewer lines. To plan for coastal resiliency, the City includes an emphasis on nature based adaptation measures, protection of public access, recreation and sensitive coastal resources and inclusionary public participation processes. Coastal Commission staff suggested two modifications to clarify the City’s citywide beach dune restoration program could evaluate other “soft” solutions such as living shoreline projects in the future. The other modification clarifies that the beach dune stabilization program will use native Southern California coastal dune plant species. The Commission approved the LCP update unanimously.

As of the June meeting, SB 423 would repeal the provision in existing law that precludes the streamlined approval process from applying in the coastal zone for multi-family housing projects. It would allow development in wetlands or critical habitat for listed species if development has been authorized by federal or other state law and would undermine Coastal Commission authority. Surfrider and a coalition of other NGOs are also opposing the bill unless this aspect of the bill is amended.

After a 40-year battle, improved public access to Escondido Beach in Malibu has been secured. The Commission and State Coastal Conservancy collaborated to resolve a long standing dispute with Malibu homeowners, who had obstructed beach access through evading their responsibility to provide a public accessway. The violators agreed to fully fund and construct a beach accessway, as intended by the Commission's 1978 permit allowing development of the area, to mitigate the loss of public access. The estimated value of the resolution, including the Trust's construction costs and Mancuso's penalties, is over $4 million, providing faster construction and a more navigable path to the beach than would otherwise be realized if the violators had not collaborated. This resolution will result in several free beach access parking spaces being provided along the Pacific Coast Highway and a new beach access trail.

The Coastal Commission voted unanimously to approve its Public Trust Guiding Principles and Action Plan, which includes ten principles and actions that outline how the Commission views the Coastal Act in addressing threats to public trust resources caused by sea level rise and related decision making...

The Coastal Commission unanimously voted to approve the passage of the City of Pacifica’s Coastal Development Permit (CDP), fully authorizing a reformed surf school permitting program at Linda Mar Beach...

The Coastal Commission denied a County of Santa Cruz permit for the demolition of a home at Opal Cliffs Drive and construction of a new 8,200 square foot house reliant on a shoreline armoring structure...