5) LIFE’S A BEACH Putting aside litigation in favor of recreation, a handful of residents living along Pacific Coast Highway in September reached an agreement with elected officials that cleared the way for the construction of a public beach club at 415 PCH — the old Marion Davies Estate.
Members of the Palisades Beach Property Owners Association and resident Jonathan Ornstein filed a lawsuit in June asking a judge to stop the project because City Hall violated conditions of the California Environmental Quality Act, as well as a local law prohibiting the creation of food-serving facilities along the beach.
The plaintiffs also said the beach club — funded by a $28 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation — would create dangerous driving conditions on an already deadly stretch of PCH, and therefore, a stop light needed to be installed.
City officials made several attempts to appease the residents, including scaling back portions of the facility, as well as the hours of operation. Additional security was also included, and city staff entered into negotiations with the California Department of Transportation to have a traffic signal installed.
As part of the settlement, City Hall will be required to operate the beach club according to conditions approved by the association and provide around-the-clock security for at least seven years, with certain conditions in effect for 10 years.
There was some concern that the lawsuit would derail plans for the beach club, causing delays that would force the Annenberg Foundation to pull out. Friends of 415 PCH staged beach parties on the law of City Hall and near the Davies estate to draw attention to the effort, which was followed by newspapers from across the country, pitting it as a battle between wealthy, beach-side residents and the middle-class looking for a taste of “Gold Coast,” a term used to describe an opulent stretch of beach where Davies estate now sits.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 30, 2006. Read the original PDF.