July Coastal Commission Report: Ventura

The Commission convened in Ventura from July 8-10, where they tackled a varied agenda and built upon a strong “Pro-Coast” voting trend during the Coastal Act's 50th anniversary year.  In line with our California Beaches Forever campaign, your Surfrider California policy team weighed in on important Commission decisions relating to coastal access, resource protection, and proactive climate adaptation. 

Read on for a recap on key votes, meeting highlights, and how to fight back against the Trump administration’s unprecedented attack on our ability to protect the coast we love. 

Federal threat to California's coastal management plan

We cannot allow more of these to spoil our coastline! 

The meeting's most urgent news came from Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge, who sounded the alarm on NOAA's reopened review of California's federally certified Coastal Management Program. The program, certified in 1978, has cleared every prior review, including a 2024 evaluation that found it successful, though NOAA never finalized that report. 

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick ordered this new review instead, calling the state's oversight "environmental extremism" and pointing to spaceport, offshore drilling, and desalination decisions. Huckelbridge warned that decertification would strip California and the public of their voice over federal coastal projects, just as the Trump administration pushes new offshore drilling most Californians oppose. She urged the public to engage and make their voices heard. Let’s be clear: this is a politically motivated review that puts nearly 50 years of coastal protection on the line. 

Here’s how to make your voice heard: 

NOAA will be holding three public comment sessions: an in-person session in Santa Monica on Monday, Aug. 10 from 2-6pm, and back-to-back virtual sessions on Tuesday, Aug. 11 and Wednesday, Aug. 12 from 2-5pm. We’ve posted information and talking points HERE. Please sign up in advance to speak, submit an email comment to NOAA, or both. Your voice matters here.

A dramatic turnaround: the Commission supports AB 1740

LA Chapter members showed up at multiple Santa Monica Council meetings to oppose this bill

In a remarkable success story, the Commission voted unanimously to support AB 1740 (Zbur) in its current form. This is the same bill that began the year as one of the most sweeping attacks on the Coastal Act in decades. That turnaround took months of sustained advocacy in both Sacramento and Santa Monica. Commission staff, Surfrider and partners, and engaged Santa Monicans showed up at meeting after meeting to push back on the bill's original language. Credit is also due to the City of Santa Monica, which sponsored the bill but ultimately struck a deal with the Commission prioritizing completion of its own Local Coastal Program, helping pave the way for amendments removing all exemptions to the Coastal Act. It's proof that sustained pressure pays off. The threats this bill posed to coastal resources and the public’s right to access the beach have been neutralized, resulting in our most important campaign victory of 2026. 

If you've been following the AB 1740 saga, Commissioner Jackson's comments are worth a watch! 

Surfrider objects to fast-tracking Carlsbad emergency armoring extension

Carlsbad asked the Commission to extend an emergency rock revetment permit by seven years — its third extension request — and staff recommended waving it through with no public hearing, as a routine, immaterial amendment. Surfrider objected, showing the city was financially healthy, had kept funding other coastal projects nearby, and didn't need to keep kicking the can down the road on the long-term management plan it agreed to submit under the original permit. That plan is critical: this stretch of Carlsbad Blvd. fronts a rapidly eroding beach, and the fix on the table is a managed retreat project to relocate the road and allow the beach to recover. But that only happens if the city commits and acts in good faith.

Move the road, save the beach

This was an uphill fight: Surfrider backs staff recommendations the vast majority of the time, and it takes a strong case to convince Commissioners to override one and send an extension to a full hearing instead of letting it sail through unchecked. Our testimony succeeded: visual slides gave Commissioners context they wouldn't otherwise have gotten outside a full hearing, and a dedicated Carlsbad-based volunteer traveled three hours to Ventura to testify in person. Six Commissioners, twice the number needed, broke from staff's recommendation and voted to send the extension to a full public hearing. It's a rare override, and it means Carlsbad will now have to make its case for the extension in public, on the record… with the future of this beach on the line. Check out the San Diego Chapter’s campaign page to learn more about this ambitious effort.

Capitola lays the groundwork for Cliff Drive adaptation

Surfrider submitted a comment letter on Capitola's Cliff Drive coastal hazards plan, pushing for stronger guardrails around future shoreline armoring. Two of our recommendations made it into the final approval: the Commission struck language that could have let an armoring project skip the city's own (stronger) armoring rules, and staff confirmed a narrow reading of which structures even qualify for armoring in the first place. That second point is important; since staff extended the interpretation statewide, it provides Surfrider with citable precedent for armoring fights up and down the coast.

Long Beach HOA to reopen public access it blocked for 40 years

For more than 40 years, the Bay Harbour Homeowners Association in Long Beach blocked public access paths its own 1977 coastal permit required it to keep open, installing locked gates, encroaching structures, and signage that made the area look like a private community. The Commission's enforcement order corrected that: rather than a cash penalty alone, the HOA agreed to an in-kind package worth over $2.5 million, including new access signage, ADA improvements, habitat restoration, and public restrooms. The gates are already down.

A Win For Marine Protection: 98 new informational signs at coastal access points near MPAs

The Commission also approved a proposal to install 98 new and replacement informational signs at coastal access points near marine protected areas across twelve counties, from Del Norte to San Diego. Signage is often the only tool beachgoers have for knowing where MPA boundaries are and what's allowed, especially at high-visitation sites where compliance has historically been a concern. About 60 percent of the signs will go on existing posts and structures, keeping the project's footprint light, and a special condition — added after substantial tribal consultation — protects against inadvertent discovery of cultural resources during installation. The new signage will be a meaningful improvement for MPA awareness and compliance up and down the coast.

Surfrider grabs the mic during general public comment

The strength of our network shined during public general comment, where members of the public can sign up to address the Commission for two minutes on any topic not on the agenda. First, Ventura Chapter all-star Joan Tharp updated the Commission on the chapter’s efforts to restore 2.5 acres of coastal dune habitat using nature-based solutions in Port Hueneme. In addition to watching her comments below, you can learn more about the Hueneme Beach Dune Restoration project HERE.

Next up, California Policy Associate Director Jennifer Savage ensured that the Commissioners didn’t miss a recent Washington Post article warning that the marine heat wave affecting our state could drive extreme weather while raising sea levels this Winter. She emphasized that local governments and the state must prepare now for potentially record-breaking coastal flooding this Winter, and that the Commission should not issue emergency armoring permits that sacrifice public beaches in response to extreme weather events that have long been anticipated. 

Finally, Blue Water Task Force Manager Jaime LeDuc introduced the Commissioners to Surfrider’s Clean Water Initiative. She highlighted two California case studies in our 2025 annual Clean Water Report, and explained how our Ocean Friendly Garden program has so far filtered over 29 million gallons of polluted urban runoff. 

Want More?

If your thirst for Commission updates remains unquenched, check out our ActCoastal July Report for an even deeper dive into these key votes, meeting highlights, and more. ActCoastal is our coalition Coastal Commission accountability project; we track every meeting and score important votes as either Pro-Coast or Anti-Coast.