After a six-year legal battle with the California Coastal Commission,
the fate of a retired Corona del Mar couple’s beachfront picnic spot
and thatched palapa lies with California’s 4th District Court of Appeal.
A Santa Ana courthouse was packed with supporters of Ocean Boulevard
residents George and Sharlee McNamee on Thursday as a three-judge panel
heard arguments in the couple’s case, which has grown from a
squabble over a barbecue and some picnic tables into a fight between
the rights of private property owners versus the public’s access to the
beach.
“I’d really lose a lot of respect for the court if they
rule against them,” said Hank Reuter, 14, the McNamees’ grandson, who
attended the hearing with his family, wearing his Boy Scout uniform. “It
should be up to you what you want to do with your private property."
The Coastal Commission ordered the McNamees to tear down their beach oasis
in 2004. Set on a private portion of beach at the base of a cliff above
Corona del Mar State Beach, the McNamees’ patch of sand includes two
picnic tables, a shower and bathroom, storage lockers, a built-in
barbecue, palapa and some flowering plants. The commission ruled that
the amenities are not a coastal development and that the improvements
mislead beachgoers into thinking that the entire beach is private.
— Brianna Bailey, from the Daily Pilot