1 month ago
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The owner of a Carlsbad house built at the edge of the Buena Vista Lagoon near the beach has filed a lawsuit challenging the California Coastal Commission’s authority to impose a $1.4 million fine for coastal access issues on his property.
The national nonprofit Pacific Legal Foundation filed the complaint Nov. 19 in San Diego County Superior Court on behalf of John Levy, who built the custom, two-story house in 2000.
Levy lived in the house a few years and later used it as a wedding venue known as Levyland, until the weddings were stopped because of complaints about noise, lighting and parking. Now Levy stays there on occasion but spends most of his time at his home in New Zealand.
The foundation’s complaint says the fine is an example of government overreach and that the commission has no authority to issue the penalties.
The only access to Levy’s home is through a private gate from Mountain View Drive. The gate remained closed to the public until this spring, when Levy opened it under protest to avoid an additional $1 million fine from the Coastal Commission.
“I am not blocking public access and in fact the city has opined numerous times that there has never been public access granted through the Mountain View gate,” Levy said in an email this week.
The now-open gate allows the public to use a wide trail that goes from Levy’s driveway along the western end of the lagoon to the beach just south of the Oceanside border.
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