Big Rock Beach lot to be given to state as penalty for Broad Beach violations Play

The billionaire owner of the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team is going to buy a $2 million vacant beachfront lot in the Big Rock Fire area and give it to the state for use as a public beach.

This is his penalty for illegally running heavy equipment onto the beach to steal rocks and sand to reinforce his retaining wall, holding up his lot above the western end of the beach.

Where is the new public beach? The Coastal Commission left that out.

A corporation owned by Brewers owner Mark Attanasio got caught red-handed by neighbors on video as his workers dug a giant hole in the sand, below the water line, and moved sand and rocks up behind a retaining wall.

The Coastal Commission staff says it believes the deal "provides a high amount of value to the public and to the coastal ecosystem, as well as a rare opportunity for the public to acquire beachfront land in this area."

But the proposed agreement leaves out some key details — most importantly, just exactly where will the new public beach be? The report only says it is in the Big Rock area.

It says the beachfront property in Big Rock will be used by the public for public access, open space, and recreation. It says the new public beach at Big Rock "could be used to provide public parking" and might "be developed in the future with a formal public beach access stairway."

But the exact location was withheld from the public. It was not revealed in the agenda for the Coastal Commission meeting, where commissioners will vote on the trade Wednesday.

That meeting will be in Eureka, 655 miles north of Malibu.

Opening a new beach in Malibu may lead to yet another problem beach access point. City officials have complained about public beach openings that do not include parking, bathrooms, security gates, or other beach facilities.

The biggest complaints have been about the state creating beach access without providing for safe pedestrian access along the busy Pacific Coast Highway.

"Public parking in this area is extremely limited," said the commission staff report, issued late this week.

The new public beach, it said, "could provide informal beach access and provide areas of the beach that was previously private for sunbathing, picnicking, strolling, and otherwise enjoying this stretch of coast, and continue to provide open, public views of the ocean from Pacific Coast Highway."

KBUU on Friday asked the Coastal Commission public information officer for the address of the new public beach. This story will be updated when (or if) we get a reply.