A billionaire MLB owner’s attempt to protect his Malibu beachfront property amidst heavy El Niño-fueled hurricane surf has ended with a rather expensive consequence: a $2 million piece of California coastline going to the public.
Mark Attanasio, owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, has reached a settlement with the California Coastal Commission over illegal work performed in 2024 by his company, 2XMD Partners LLC, near his mansion on Broad Beach.
According to the Commission, excavators entered state tidelands and a protected marine area near Lechuza Point, removing sand, cobbles and boulders from sensitive intertidal habitat. The material was then placed behind Attanasio’s seawall as fill. The permits specifically prohibited mechanized equipment in the tidal zone. Malibu issued a stop-work order on July 3, 2024.
Workers “extracted sand, beach cobbles, and boulders from the sensitive rocky intertidal habitat,” the Commission wrote, before piling the material on the beach and eventually placing it behind the seawall.
The damage wasn’t merely cosmetic. The Commission says the rocky intertidal zone supports more than 1,000 species of algae and invertebrates in Southern California, along with kelp, surfgrass, fish and sea stars. The excavation left a hole in the boulder field that remained visible during subsequent inspections.
Under the settlement, 2XMD must remove remaining unpermitted development, restore the damaged boulder field and dedicate an undeveloped beachfront parcel at Big Rock Beach to the public. The property had been listed for $2 million and could eventually provide a new staircase, parking and beach access along a nearly six-mile stretch of eastern Malibu where public entry points are scarce.
Coastal Commission Executive Director Kate Huckelbridge called the agreement “a major win for Californians.”
The resolution comes almost two years after the controversy began.
Attanasio gets his seawall. California gets another piece of Malibu.
Related: Nicolas Cage’s $10.5 Million Malibu Mansion Nearly Swallowed by the Sea (Drone Video)
Original Post from this site