Long Beach HOA to Reopen Public Access It Blocked for 40 Years

For over forty years, the Bay Harbour Homeowners Association in Long Beach blocked a public access easement required by its own coastal development permit. When the Commission approved their CDP in 1977, it required the developer to dedicate more than 1,300 linear yards of public accessways: pedestrian and bicycle paths through the subdivision's greenbelt and along the Alamitos Bay waterfront. These paths were meant to connect the public to the bay, to Jack Nichol Park, and to the surrounding coast between Marine Stadium and the Los Cerritos Wetlands.

The easement was recorded and the paths were built, but the public was kept out. Starting in 1983, the HOA installed locked gates and "no trespassing" signs, built tennis courts and pools that encroached on the easement, and constructed pathways too narrow for the required bicycle access. Wheelchair users were blocked entirely. Large "Bay Harbour" signs on the only public road to Jack Nichol Park made it look like a private gated community. For decades, only HOA members could use paths the permit required to be open to everyone.

Staff brought a Consent Cease and Desist Order and Consent Administrative Penalty to resolve the violations. Rather than a cash penalty alone, the HOA agreed to an in-kind package valued at over $2.5 million: more than two dozen new public access signs, ADA accessibility improvements, a five-year native habitat restoration program linking three important coastal habitats, and new public restrooms with five years of maintenance funding. The HOA has already removed the gates and signs.

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This is exactly the kind of prolonged access violation the Coastal Act's enforcement provisions exist to remedy. The resolution restores real, physical access to the shore, corrects decades of harm to the public including environmental justice communities who deserve equal access to the coast, and makes clear that permit conditions are not optional.

It is worth noting that the violation sat on the books so long that many current homeowners had no idea the easement existed or that their community was out of compliance. We appreciate that once the issue was raised, the HOA worked cooperatively toward a resolution that delivers lasting public benefit well beyond what the original permit required.

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