Stories of the Coast - How the California Coast was Saved

The California Coastal Commission was created in 1972 by a voter initiative (Prop 20), guaranteeing public access along the entire 1,100 mile coastline of California.
To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Proposition 20, the ballot initiative that laid the blueprint for the Coastal Act, KRCB and Coastwalk California have produced an original series--Stories of the Coast.

This series tells three stories about fights waged and won to save the coast. They each feature major public access issues that were threatened by private development, and by complicit public agencies that were to willing to abandon the public trust. Former Coastal Commission Executive Director Peter Douglas was central to these battles, and he spent the last year of his life, up until the week before he died on April 1, 2012, recording his stories. This series features his revealing recollections, along with the voices of other coastal heroes and ordinary citizens. The three stories in the series include:

Crystal Cove -
The story of Laura Davick, an accidental activist, who used the Coastal Act to save the historic 1930's cottages in a state park near Laguna Beach, from being converted to an exclusive luxury resort.

The Jonathan Club -
The behind the scenes tale of how the Coastal Act's public access policy forced an exclusive men's club in Santa Monica to drop its discriminatory membership practices.

The Monterey Bay Recreational Trail -
The untold story of the how the Coastal Commission took on the Southern Pacific Railroad in Monterey to prevent the sale of their abandoned railroad tracks to luxury home developers. Instead, the Coastal Commission won the right to create the popular multi-use public trail along the edge of Monterey Bay.

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The California Coastal Commission was created in 1972 by a voter initiative (Prop 20), guaranteeing public access along the entire 1,100 mile coastline of California. To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Proposition 20, the ballot initiative that laid the blueprint for the Coastal Act, KRCB and Coastwalk California have produced an original series--Stories of the Coast. This series tells three stories about fights waged and won to save the coast. They each feature major public access issues that were threatened by private development, and by complicit public agencies that were to willing to abandon the public trust. Former Coastal Commission Executive Director Peter Douglas was central to these battles, and he spent the last year of his life, up until the week before he died on... Show full description