'Bay Boys' surfer gang cannot block access to upscale beach, Coastal Commission says

Visitors have said that a group of locals called the Bay Boys hold forth in this "fort" and discourage outsiders from surfing in Lunada Bay.

Feb. 12, 2016 9:37 AM PT

For generations, a small group of locals in wealthy Palos Verdes Estates has maintained a reputation for keeping other surfers off Lunada Bay’s well-shaped waves.

The so-called Bay Boys bombard outsiders with dirt clods, slash their car tires and assault them in the water — sometimes coordinating the attacks with walkie talkies — witnesses have said.

Surfers who say they have been victimized over the years have accused local authorities of complacency, cowardice and even complicity.

Now an unlikely new sheriff of sorts has ridden into town: the California Coastal Commission.

In a letter to Palos Verdes Estates officials, Jordan Sanchez, one of the agency’s enforcement officers, wrote that the Bay Boys are so entrenched in this beautiful notch of California coastline that they are subject to the commission’s watchdog regulations and permitting processes.

The letter says: “Precluding full public use of the coastline at Palos Verdes Estates, including the waters of Lunada Bay, whether through physical devices ... or impediments, such as threatening behavior intended to discourage public use of the coastline, represents a change of access to water, and, thus, constitutes development.”

Sanchez’s letter was followed by planning for a meeting with city leaders to discuss stepped-up plans for criminal and code enforcement needed to rid the coast of the Bay Boys’ obstruction of access.

“I don’t think we’ve ever seen this level of cooperation on this issue,” said Andrew Willis, the commission’s top enforcement agent in Southern California.

Willis said the commission has funds available to improve signage for public access and to make improvements to the treacherous pathways from the bluff down to shore where surfers say they are frequently pummeled with dirt clods — but he said that the city will need to take the lead.

“We are not in the position to do a sting operation like the police or tear down structures like a building and safety department,” he said, a reference to a stone fort at the water’s edge allegedly constructed by the group as a party spot and outpost for coordinating harassment of outsiders.

The fort features stone and cement masonry, and on one recent day it was outfitted with cooking utensils, lighter fluid, trash cans, cushions and an ice chest, as well as a paved step way, seating areas and a fire pit. At the table, someone had etched “Respect this place.”

Palos Verdes Estates City Manager Tony Dahlerbruch said he agreed with the commission that the fort — whose construction is said to have begun three decades ago — will now need to undergo the permitting process or come down.

“In the meantime, that structure must be available to be used by all,” Dahlerbruch said.

“Lunada has some of the most powerful and perfect big wave spots in California,” said Jordan Wright, 31. “It’s the wave that is most like Hawaii in Southern California in terms of its strength, power and longevity.”

Wright, who has surfed in 13 countries and on waves with 40-foot faces, has had to retreat each time he tried to surf Lunada Bay, even when he went with his father, a detective for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

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A Palos Verdes Estates police officer watches for trouble at Lunada Bay, where local surfers have clashed with outsiders.