Neighbours block shack renovation plans regardless of household proudly owning land for 90 years

Landowners in Stinson Beach, California, are in dispute with local authorities over trying to build home on the beach. Neighbours are concerned about the project
Sea levels in the area are expected to rise(
A family is gearing up for a battle with their future neighbours because they want to stop them renovating and old shack, even though they have owned the land for nearly nine decades.
The shack is located on a popular and picturesque part of Stinson Beach, California where Brian Johnson, 65, hopes to build a two-storey, 1,488-square-foot house on the plot on 21 Calle del Onda. Now consisting of a chimney surrounded by overgrown plants, the shack is a relic of the Smith family’s summer getaway spot built in the 1930s.
Its descendants, including Johnson, have run headlong into a legal dispute despite the approval of the Marin County Planning Commission in an August decision. Neighbours are concerned about the project and people in government at the state and local levels are concerned about the changing environment.
READ MORE Taylor Swift attends Travis Kelce NFL game after sharing picture inside his family home
The plans are up for a review on Tuesday(
Johnson says the development of the project has cost $335,000 and it passed a number of environmental reviews. “It’s not like we’re building an oil refinery or a nuclear power plant on the coast,” he said to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Consultant to the owners – Brian is a majority owner – Steven Kinsey said it was odd the ” last 80 feet” of the beachfront were being “treated differently” in the area where houses line up along the sand dunes.
Some view the area as environmentally important and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy calls it one of the “best swimming beaches in northern California.” Marin County is also considering a dune restoration project in the area costing a possible $50 million.
The shack is located on a popular and picturesque part of Stinson Beach, California where Brian Johnson, 65, hopes to build a new house(
“This is an environment that is changing,” commission member Don Dickinson said. Dickinson, who voted against the proposal, added: “Maybe it’s changing more rapidly than some people thought.”
Rising sea levels now threaten the historic community along with flooding from a creek nearby and there are further concerns around the septic tank needed at the property after storms damaged the area last winter. Now, a decision by the Marin County Board of Supervisors is due on Tuesday.
Opposition to the project can be found among locals like Scott Tye, the Vice Chair of the Marin chapter of the conservation group Surfrider Foundation. “The (California) Coastal Act says you don’t sacrifice important natural habitat for the development of the property for a commercial residential structure… Particularly if it’s one of the few left standing,” he said.
The California Coastal Commission has also said in a letter to the Marin County Planning Commission that it has “significant concerns regarding potential impacts to environmentally sensitive habitat areas, including dune habitat; (and) siting this development in such a hazardous area”.
For all the latest news, politics, sports, and showbiz from the USA, go to The Mirror US