PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ENCINITAS, CA 92024 PERMIT NO. 94
THE COAST NEWS
VOL. 27, NO. 13
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MAKING WAVES IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD
MAY 3, 2013
Coastal property owners sue city By Bianca Kaplanek
BRINGING THEIR OWN DEVICES Students in a math class at Torrey Pines High School use their own laptops and smartphones to complete an assignment. In some classes, teachers are hopping aboard a national trend by inviting technology from home. See the full story on page A6. Photo by Jared Whitlock
Gun store permit approved in Carlsbad By Rachel Stine
CARLSBAD — Local business owners won their appeal with the city to open the first gun retail store in Carlsbad in the coming months. Defeating more than a year of rejection from city staff, the owners of Gunther Gifts gained approval from City Council at the April 30 meeting with a swing vote from Councilmember Lorraine Wood. “I’m just so happy it went my way finally,” said Lisa Gunther, after the vote, as her husband Gregg Gunther hugged and kissed her over and over again. “I feel like I got justice.” “I was praying, sitting in the car,” said Gregg, explaining that he thought he would jinx City Council’s decision if he watched the proceedings. The Gunthers initially applied last
A PERFECT PAIRING Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rae Armantrout has a penchant for finding relationships in contradictions. A8
year to obtain a conditional use permit to add retail abilities for their business Gunther Gifts, enabling them to transfer and sell firearms. The Planning Commission and City Council denied their original application, claiming that it did not meet city requirements. Lisa Gunther brought her application before the city a second time earlier this year after she added some changes to her proposal and gained further support from business associations operating near Gunther Gifts’ location off of Palomar Airport Road. City planning staff recommended that City Council follow suit with the Planning Commission, which denied the TURN TO PERMIT ON A17
Lisa Gunther appeals to City Council members for a permit to allow her local business to transfer and sell guns at their April 30 meeting. Photo by Rachel Stine
Two Sections, 60 pages Arts & Entertainment . . A8 Food & Wine . . . . . . . . A11 Legals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A30 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B7
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SOLANA BEACH — Accusing Solana Beach of violating state law and the U.S. Constitution, an organization representing coastal landowners is suing the city, claiming officials enacted policies that will prevent oceanfront property owners from protecting their property from erosion with sea walls and make it significantly harder for them to keep and maintain private beach stairways. The lawsuit, filed on April 26 by Pacific Legal Foundation on behalf of the Beach & Bluff Conservancy, is in response to the Local Coastal Program Land Use Plan adopted by City Council with a 4-1 vote at the Feb. 27 meeting. “Our lawsuit says to Solana Beach, ‘Tear down your unlawful anti-sea wall policies, and stop eroding the property rights of coastal landowners,’” Paul J. Beard II, principal attorney with Pacific Legal, said. According to a press release, coastal landowners who want to build a home or make improvements to an existing residence must agree they will never install a sea wall even if their property is threatened by erosion. “This new anti-sea wall rule washes away people’s statutory and constitutional right to safeguard their property by protecting it from the destructive force of the tides,” Beard said. “As a land use permit condition, the anti-sea wall dictate is also unconstitutional because it has no relationship to any impact created by any proposed land use project. The permitting process is being misused and perverted to twist people’s arms and extort unjustified concessions.” The lawsuit also claims costly new demands are imposed on coastal landowners who seek permission to preserve or repair private stairways to the beach. “The city’s goal is to phase-out private stairways, or convert them to public use — of course, with no
intention of paying any compensation,” Beard said. “This is another unlawful erosion of private property rights. “California law and the United States Constitution protect oceanfront residents against infringements on their property rights, just as much as landowners far inland,” Beard said. “No matter where you live, if you own a home or any kind of property, you should be concerned when government undermines property rights, including when it happens along the coast.” The provisions challenged in the recent lawsuit were added by the Coastal Commission. Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys have also taken over representation of the BBC (Beach & Bluff Conservancy) in an existing lawsuit against the commission over its role in promoting the unlawful policies. “The Coastal Commission leaned heavily on the city to adopt the Land Use Plan with these unlawful policies, but that doesn’t excuse the city for buckling to the commission’s pressure,” Beard said. “The city broke faith with the oceanfront property owners,” Chris Hamilton, spokesman for the BBC, said. “It sacrificed property rights to the persistent pressure of the commission to enact policies that are inconsistent with the Coastal Act and the Constitution.” A Local Coastal Program, which regulates development in the coastal zone, is required by the California Coastal Act of 1976 to ensure coastal areas are used and developed according to statewide public objectives. Each LCP contains an LUP, or ground rules for future development and protection of coastal resources. Solana Beach is unique in that the entire city, including the area east of Interstate 5, is considered the coastal zone. It is one of a handful of TURN TO COAST PROPERTY ON A29