Laguna Beach's $13M Homes Lost Their Seawalls — And The Permits Expired

The wall is gone. Not damaged. Not cracked. Removed, under a permit condition that required its demolition when the authorisation expired. The houses above it are still standing and the prices still begin at thirteen million dollars. Laguna Beach sits on seven miles of coastal bluff made of siltstone, sandstone and shale. Weak rock, in the technical sense: low shear strength, prone to losing cohesion when saturated, and structurally vulnerable to undercutting at the base. The bluffs do not wear away gradually. Waves remove material at the toe, the face oversteepens, and a block detaches. Owners armoured against that with seawalls and revetments, most of them permitted decades ago by the California Coastal Commission. Those permits were not permanent. Some carried expiration dates. Some carried conditions requiring removal if authorisation was not renewed. Here is the part that changes what this story is about. The beach in front of an oceanfront property in California is not the owner's beach. The wet sand below the mean high tide line belongs to the state, held in public trust. A seawall protects the house by reflecting wave energy downward and sideways, which scours the sand in front of it and starves the bluffs on either side. The armour that saves the house consumes something the owner never owned. And a Coastal Commission condition does not attach to the person who signed the application. It attaches to the property. The owner who bought in 2011 inherited it. The next buyer will too. Nobody in this story did anything unreasonable. The bluff is still retreating. Sourced from the USGS, the California Geological Survey, California Coastal Commission staff reports, the California Coastal Act, the City of Laguna Beach, and Orange County records. Is there a stretch of coastline, a bluff edge or a permit dispute you think deserves this kind of examination? Name it in the comments. That is where the next video comes from. New investigation every Tuesday. #LagunaBeach #California #CoastalErosion #RealEstate #OrangeCounty #CoastalCommission #Seawall #BluffErosion laguna beach, laguna beach real estate, california real estate, luxury real estate, coastal erosion, bluff erosion, seawall, revetment, california coastal commission, coastal act, section 30235, managed retreat, orange county, rockledge drive, victoria beach, emerald bay, bluebird canyon, oceanfront property, property values, coastal permit, real estate documentary, unsellable america