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Pathway To 'Billionaire's Beach' In Malibu Set For Official Reopening

MALIBU (CBSLA.com) — Officials were set Tuesday to officially announce the opening of a new public pathway down to one of Malibu's most hard-to-reach beaches.

The California Coastal Commission was expected to open the path to Billionaire's Beach after a decade-long legal dispute between the commission and a Malibu couple required to provide public access as part of a permit for a new beach house.

Officials say the new Carbon Beach path will be open an hour before sunrise to an hour after sunset and will provide a third public walkway to one of the most exclusive stretches of California coast, where the likes of Jamie McCourt and David Geffen have huge estates.

Access to the shoreline has been historically limited, with the next closest pathway being the Zonker Harris accessway, which was opened in 1983 and named for a character in the comic strip Doonesbury, and the Carbon Beach East path, opened in 2005 after a lengthy legal battle with Geffen.

Jana Zimmer, vice chair of the California Coastal Commission, told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO the opening of the pathway has been literally years in the making.

"After these years of struggles, now we have an agreement that the access way was built as it was intended to be built, and is now being opened to the public," said Zimmer.

The dispute over the pathway stretches back to the 1980s, when the commission issued two permits to Malibu residents Lisette and Norman Ackerberg to develop their beach front lots, allowing for the construction of a house, pool, tennis court, and a 140-foot long seawall.

As part of the permit requirements, however, the Ackerbergs were supposed to provide a public pathway to the beach, according to the Commission.

Instead, they paved over the easements with a 9-foot-high wall, large boulders, a fence and landscaping, leading to a lengthy legal dispute.

In 2013, commissioners were able to reach a "historic" agreement with the Ackerberg family that opened up the path to public access.

The agency approved a settlement requiring Lisette Ackerberg, whose husband died in 2004, to pay more than $1 million for Coastal Act violations and to pay for the construction and operation of the accessway.

Ackerberg's attorney Diane Abbitt said her client has since embraced the public path beside her home, and offered to construct a wheelchair accessible path from Pacific Coast Highway down to the beach.

In a statement, Ackerberg said she and her husband, one of the founding members of the environmental group the Santa Monica Baykeeper, cared deeply for the environment and the rights of the disabled.

"I am especially proud to give people with disabilities a safe and efficient way to access and enjoy the magnificent beauty of Malibu," she said.

But not everyone is celebrating the new entrance to Carbon Beach West.

"Everyday there's people parking in front of my house and then they're putting trash all over the streets – it's a huge difference," Carbon Beach homeowner Tracy Park said.

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