Last week the city of Palos Verdes Estates in Southern California agreed to a court ruling that requires the city to make the historically localized Lunada Bay a more welcoming place for surfers and even punish those who threatened violence.
According to the consent decree signed in Los Angeles Superior Court on September 20, the city must improve the blufftop overlooking Lunada Bay with a train for hikers, surfers and dog walkers, install drought-tolerant plants and build signs stating the coast is “open to everyone.”
The city is also charged with patrolling the beach at least every two months for the next five years to remove structures (like the stone hut locals had for many years) and equipment. Palos Verdes Estates still has to pay $4 million to $1 million in attorneys’ fees.
The agreement ended a yearslong lawsuit, which was filed in 2016 by two surfers who sued several local surfers and accused the city of failing to prevent bullying, assault and harassment of out-of-town surfers not affiliated with the local group known in the unofficial vernacular as the Lunada Bay Boys. The lawsuit also alleged local police did little to stop the harassment. As a result of the lawsuit, 13 of the Bay Boys agreed to stay away from Lunada Bay for at least a year or to pay settlements from $25,000 to $90,000.
Fearing millions more in litigation and state penalties for not addressing California’s stringent coastal access laws, the Palos Verdes Estates took this settlement as a way to get out of court sooner rather than later.
“The city was facing an existential financial risk if the case ultimately had gone against the city,” Christopher Pisano, the city’s legal counsel said in a statement. “This settlement resolves the matter with the addition of modest amenities, which will be designed to maintain the natural feel of the blufftop, and a promise that the city will continue to vigorously enforce the laws protecting coastal access. This is a win for the city given the structure of the beach access laws and the uncertainty of the legal outcome.”
For the longtime Lunada Bay locals, the news must feel ironic and even a tragic twist of fate. By trying to keep the lineup clear and the wave underground through heavy-handed efforts, Lunada Bay’s localism was elevated, highlighted, bolded and put under a microscope by the city and the California Coastal Commission.
Whether you think local governments should have a hand in lineup politics or not, the ruling is a potentially massive precedent that could force California cities to take similar measures when aggressive surfers get into the public eye.