Pierpont homeowners have lost their court battle to force the speedy removal of mountains of sand piled up against their homes.
An injunction and a complaint was filed in March against the City of Ventura and State Parks on behalf of the beachfront homeowners who have sustained damage. In a ruling issued on Friday, Judge Henry Walsh wrote, "The plaintiffs have not exhausted their available administrative remedies with the defendants in securing permits to themselves abate the sand problem."
"The court denied the preliminary injunction and essentially told the property owners to apply for coastal permits to do the work themselves," said City Attorney Ariel Calonne.
"All I can say is that we're all disappointed that the urgency of moving the sand before September was denied by the judge," said Pierpont beachfront homeowner Rosemary Icardo.
Icardo's home is impacted by tons of sand which she is unable to move without a permit from the City of Ventura with approval by the Coastal Commission. The city, working with the state and Coastal Commission, recently presented Pierpont residents with a Sand Management Plan which has since generated controversy. It allows residents to move the sand, but stipulates they must also restore the beach to a natural environment with roped-off plantings and dunes which will abate the buildup. This work is to be done on public property and must be done between Sept. 15 and May 15 "to avoid impacting visitors, grunion and potential nesting birds."
The ruling came too late for Icardo and other impacted property owners who will now likely have to wait until September to move the sand. An engineer hired to look at her property concluded the wall connected to the foundation of her home is "showing evidence of great stress. It will fail. The failure will be catastrophic and it could be soon," she said.
The decision did not settle the issue of who is financially responsible to pay to move the sand -- residents, the city or the state -- as it did not rule on the merits of the case. Who actually owns the property that the dunes sit on is still in dispute. This 40-foot wide strip of sand that runs about a mile all the way down the beach in front of the homes is likely the only beachfront property in Southern California that nobody will claim.
The City Council on April 14 directed staff to seek a short-term solution to the sand issues and a shared-funding arrangement with residents to pay for a long-term solution. Those proposals will be brought back at a future meeting.
So now we can add the Superior Court system to the list of govermental entities that aren't willing to help resolve the Pierpont residents sand issues. Good going.
This is ridiculous! If the city is serious about having Ventura be a tourist destination, then take care of the beaches.
This is certainly not the end of the line, legally, for the residents. Time and the courts will tell who is ultimately responsible for the maintenance. But, for now at least, it looks like the residents are on their own.
I've never been in support of the City paying for the maintenance, but I can certainly empathize with the property owners. I'm surprised Katie is advocating that the City should take care of it. She has always represented herself as a defender of the taxpayers.
The city agreed to spend tot from beach rentals on beach clean-up but won't fund the visitors bureau to draw the tourists here to rent the beach houses that will pay for the cleaning!