The two-story mobile home that Michael and Susan Christian own and live in in the Orange County beach community of San Clemente, California, isn’t blighted, dangerous, ugly, or even unpopular with the neighbors.
But it is a little too tall, according to state officials with the California Coastal Commission.
For over a decade, the commission—a state agency with the final say over most development on the California coast—has been arguing that the Christians’ addition of a second story to their home obscures ocean views from a nearby walking trail. It also argued the couple added that second story without getting the required permits from the commission.
Late last month, a California appeals court sided with the commission, ruling that the Christians must comply with its demands to shrink their house from its current 22 feet in height down to 16 feet. The Christians’ representatives say that will require them to completely tear down and rebuild the home.
“They’re an elderly couple. They’re in their 70s. They have all kinds of health issues. This is their only home; they live in it,” says Lee Andelin, one of the Christians’ lawyers. Dismantling the home “is going to cost them millions of dollars, for what? There’s not a broader benefit for the public.”
Andelin argues the ruling will embolden the commission to place even more restrictions on coastal homeowners’ ability to improve their properties.
Hellbound and Down 