MALIBU—On Tuesday, June 14, the state opened a stairway to help the public to enter a section of Malibu Beach. The stairway will permit people to descend a steep, 30-foot bluff to the sand and surf below. According to Curbed Los Angeles, oceanfront property owners in Malibu have put up fake “No Parking” signs, blocked the path to the ocean and hired private security guards.
According to 88.3 KPCC, the new staircase was in the making for decades which connects beach goers to Malibu Colony Beach. The new staircase is located at 24038 Malibu Road. On Tuesday a ceremony was held to open the staircase. The staircase built by the California Coastal Commission, Coast Conservancy and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority cost about $1 million.
Joan Cardellini, South Coast regional manager of the California State Coastal Conservancy, indicated to 89.3 KPCC, “Today was the grand opening of a beautifully built stairway on Malibu Road that will provide public access to Malibu Colony Beach, which is immediately up-coast of Malibu Lagoon State Park.”
The building of the staircase is latest stretch in helping making the Malibu shoreline accessible. The commission opened a public path to Carbon Beach last summer. Carbon Beach is also referred to as ‘Billionaire’s Beach.’ ‘Billionaire’s Beach,’ provides access to the sand behind oceanside mansions.
Cardellini spoke to 89.3 KPCC about the section of the beach indicating that the section of beach is “pretty much for a short day,” she said. “You can take a nice walk down the beach at low tide. It does get inundated at high tide, so it’s good to check the tide charts. There are tide pools there. … I don’t typically see people swimming there. It’s pretty much surfers and walkers,” she added.
According to 89.3 KPCC, construction of the stairway began in late March and was completed on Monday, June, 13.
“We’ve been working on this project for over 20 years,” said Cardellini. “It took a long time … because there were some lawsuits around opening it, and we had to adjudicate the legal ownership of the property.… Before this, the surfers were still accessing the break but they had to scramble down these large boulders — the riprap supporting the road. So that’s all been nicely dealt with and it’s just a whole lot easier.”
According to Curbed LA, the California Coastal Conservation Initiative was passed in the 1970s which required most of California’s coast to be accessible to public.