Articles

Author:    Damien M. Schiff PLF runs a Coastal Land Rights Project, whose principal goal is to fight on behalf of coastal property owners against big and abusive government.  One of the most frequent violators of individuals' property rights in coastal areas is the California Coastal Commission.  PLF has been ...

Author:  Paul Beard Thanks to all who participated in our first-ever webchat last week concerning PLF's Coastal Land Rights Project.  It was a great success, with a large number of participants signed into the chat, and a host of excellent questions and comments!  For those who weren't able to attend, you ...

Author:  Paul Beard II On Thursday, June 23, 2011, a full-day conference on the California Coastal Commission will take place in Sacramento, California.  Sponsored by UC Davis and Capitol Weekly, the conference's goal  is "to provide a balanced and rigorous discussion of the Commission's policies and operations." ...

Last week I attended the California Coastal Commission meeting at the Taj Mahal in Newport Beach. On Wednesday, the meeting attracted a crowd full of union and environmental activists, to discuss Poseidon Water’s application to build a $900 million desalination plant. The proposed facility would produce 50 million gallons of drinking water a ...

As Coastal Land Rights Week concludes, it is important to recognize that a tremendous amount of work remains to be done. Governments around the country seem set on taking property along the coast at no cost. Currently the greatest publicity tool these governments have is the prospect of climate change and global warming. In a … ...

The shoreline of the Great Lakes has given rise to many interesting property rights disputes between property owners and hungry governments looking to take private property without obeying the Constitution. Add the case of LBLHA, LLC, v. Town of Long Beach, Indiana, to that list. The states bordering the Great Lakes have a history of trying to ...

We are thrilled to report that former PLF client, Roc Sansotta, has reached a settlement agreement with the Town of Nags Head, North Carolina, to the tune of $1.5 million! Under the agreement, the Town will essentially buy Sansotta’s beachfront property and cottages, and tear them down to make the land part of the public beach. … ...

Should the public have the right to cross private property simply because it is next to a navigable water body? The California Court of Appeal may decide just that when it takes up the ongoing controversy over access to Martins Beach. As we have blogged about before, for decades the owners of the coastal property … ...

Today, PLF filed an amicus brief in the California Court of Appeal defending the property rights of La Jolla coastal landowners Ure and Dianne Kretowicz. The Kretowiczs purchased their blufftop home from a bank after a foreclosure in 1994, unaware of any restrictions on the title. But when they tried to get a permit to … ...