The Coastal Commission should serve public good

Since the time of the ancient Phoenicians and Greeks, everyone has wanted to use land by the sea. The attraction was beauty, recreation and more. A shoreline lot was of enormous commercial value. Shipbuilders, merchants, bankers and assorted tradesmen realized the economic advantage of being where goods arrived and left on a daily basis. Ports were a mecca of industrial activity.

After lengthy and often raucous debate, rather than shutting out any of the desirable uses and users of the coast, laws were enacted that gave ownership of the coastal areas to all the people. That ensured that development of coastal regions was of benefit to everyone.

Those ancient laws made sense and were adopted in the U.S. Our California Coastal Commission has the same charge that the earlier lawmakers had. It’s not enough that a proposed development has made conciliatory changes in its plan, nor is it material that the developer’s plan would be reasonable someplace else. Vital concerns of the commission include whether the physical changes to the area in a specific development plan are damaging to California’s coastal zone or would in some way restrict public access to the ocean.

New Orleans is a tragic example of what can happen when a state’s coastal commission fails to do its job. The wetlands that could have absorbed some of Hurricane Katrina’s excessive water had been pumped dry in favor of housing developments. The storm flooded the developments where some of the lives and property might have been saved.

The California Coastal Commission does not have an easy job. The pressure on them to allow ocean-side development is relentless from cities that want increased tax revenues and from developers whose goal is to show a profit. There is even pressure from private citizens who see a possible collateral profit in their own businesses from a proposed luxury resort or fancy restaurant on the ocean.

But the Coastal Commission’s job isn’t to enable a city or businessman to increase their wealth -- it is to make sure that our children and grandchildren are able to enjoy what’s left of our beaches and scenery that make up California’s incredible coastline.

ALAN REMINGTON

Costa Mesa