Surely Cambria’s magnificent coastline and simple beauty have benefited greatly over the decades from the considered oversight and careful protections afforded by the Coastal Commission. Yet when Cambria wishes to flex some provincial muscle for solely self serving interests, the careful rule of law of the Commission is suddenly an overbearing burden denying Cambria its rights to exploit the coast and destroy environmentally sensitive areas any way it pleases.
Coastlines like San Clemente didn’t happen overnight. Its monolithic hotels, auto malls, and indistinguishable neighborhoods are development by a thousand cuts. For the sake of the rest of us Californians who so deeply value the rejuvenating majesty of the wild and undeveloped coast and the simple quaintness of villages like Cambria, let’s hope that the Coastal Commission and the wishes of the many prevail in a court of law over the political aspirations of the few.
Susan Harvey
Paso Robles
This article appears in Jan 20-27, 2005.