California homeowners in a coastal near the Bay Area have put up a chain-link fence to block the public’s access to the beach — in defiance of $4.7 million in fines from authorities who have ordered the residents to clear the pathway.
The illegal barricade was installed by the Rio Del Mar Beach Island Homeowners Association in Aptos, a wealthy community located around 40 miles south of San Jose.
It prevents access to a 25-foot-wide behind their multimillion-dollar Beach Drive condos along the quarter-mile-long beach, according to SFGATE.
The HOA, which has filed suit against the government agency in charge of protecting access to beaches, claims that the walkway is private property and that condo owners are legally permitted to install barriers.
Beachside homes in Aptos were listed on the realtor site Zillow for as much as $13 million for a five-bedroom house.
Another five-bedroom home overlooking the ocean in Aptos was listed on Zillow for $9 million.
One of the condo owners whose property overlooks the walkway told SFGATE: “I don’t think people need to be walking behind people’s private property.”
““I don’t prefer walking on the sand — that’s not my cup of tea. Yes, the sidewalks are sketchy in front of the houses. I don’t know about wheelchair access; I’ve not tried to put a wheelchair on there.
“My opinion is, I think for them, it’s a privacy issue,” the owner said.
Condo owners in the area have made several attempts to block access to the walkway — only for officials from Santa Cruz County to tear them down.
“Whether it’s trash cans blocking the sidewalk in front of the Beach Drive homes or newly erected fences blocking the coastal walkway, it sure seems like a lot of time, effort and money is being spent to prevent any sort of safe, public access to the area,” Rio Del Mar Supervisor Zach Friend told SiliconValley.com last week.
The HOA filed a lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission accusing the agency of having “applied their administrative enforcement authority in direct contravention” of a 2022 ruling by a Superior Court judge who ruled that “no public easement across the privately constructed and fully permitted patios on Beach Island exists.”
The Post has sought comment from the CCC and HOA.
