Paradise Point Public Access Violations

The Coastal Commission’s enforcement division issued a consent cease and desist and administrative penalty action against Paradise Point Resort before the Commission. Paradise Point is a luxury resort in Mission Bay with a long standing history of violating the Coastal Act, including obstructing public access and construction of an unpermitted water fountain, deck and pier. With the orders, the resort has agreed to remove unpermitted development blocking public access, restore two new public access points, add ADA features to the pier, initiate a public awareness campaign to advertise public access opportunities, provide public restrooms, fund a $500,000 environmental justice program to bring lower income students and their families from nearby communities for overnight stays with science and education recreational opportunities and pay a monetary penalty of $1 million. Enforcement staff estimated the total value of the penalties and fines as $4 million.

This is a big win for coastal access in Mission Bay and a testament to the Commission’s small but mighty enforcement division. The estimated $4.1 total million dollars in penalties, in addition to a $300,000/day for continued violations*, signals to private property owners that those who intentionally and repeatedly block access to the public’s right to accessing the coast will not go unnoticed. The inclusion of an environmental justice program with nuanced provisions for programs for lower-income students and their families will set the precedent that public access must go beyond parking and restrooms, although those are a necessity, at a minimum. That said, this case raises many questions. What is the dollar amount that can stop a multi-million dollar company from repeating their transgressions in the name of profit? In a case that is billed primarily as a public access case, why is the amount allocated towards the people who have actively been excluded from accessing the space only one-quarter of the total estimated penalty? Infrastructure improvements alone in the backyard of known repeat violators will be insufficient to truly provide equitable coastal access in and along the shore at Mission Bay.We must continue to move from simply physical access to the coast towards a more expansive view of coastal access that centers equity, belonging, and justice.