Coastal Commission silent on location of new Big Rock beach Play

Still no response from the Coastal Commission about where exactly it plans to put a new state park along Pacific Coast Highway near Big Rock. The commission will vote Thursday to approve a staff agreement that would settle a Broad Beach property issue by obtaining land in Big Rock, 15 miles away. Some eastern Malibu residents say this just moves one problem from Broad Beach to Big Rock.

The offender is Mark Attanasio, the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers. He owns a house at western Broad Beach on the cliff, and he took heavy equipment out onto the sand — California tideland property — and took rocks and sand for his construction project on the cliffs. His penalty: he has to buy three burned-down house lots on the oceanfront near Big Rock. That will cost $2 million, and some in the area say he's getting off cheap.

Big Rock is in the middle of the six-mile-long line of houses that block coastal access along PCH in eastern Malibu. The Coastal Commission staff has been complaining about that for years and now has found a way to create a state beach right in the middle. For his penalty, Attanasio has to buy three $2 million vacant beachfront lots in the Big Rock fire area and give them to the state for use as a public beach. The commission staff says it's a good deal, high value to the public and the coastal ecosystem.

But the proposed agreement — voted on Thursday — leaves out key details, most importantly just where the new public beach will be. The report only says it's in the Big Rock area. The exact location is withheld from the public, and we still don't have an answer from the Coastal Commission staff. The meeting is in Eureka, 655 miles north of Malibu.

One beachfront owner at Big Rock, Dean Wenner, tells us that the City of Malibu is obligated to stop this because it conflicts with the stance they've taken regarding repopulating the eastern part of the beach. Left unsaid: removing three oceanfront properties for rebuilding might make it more expensive for the others to rebuild if they want to choose a sewer there.

Opening a new beach in Malibu would also lead to yet one more problem beach access point with no parking, no bathrooms, no security gates, or other beach facilities.

KBUU News on Friday asked the Coastal Commission Public Information Office for the address of the new beach. No reply.