Pacifica Riptide

City Lawsuit Against Shelter Cove Landlord

FULL STORY HERE

Juan Carlos Pometta Betancourt/Special to The Examiner

The only way tenants of Pacifica’s Shelter Cove can currently reach their homes is by traversing a narrow path of dirt steps down a steep cliff ­ a makeshift pathway that has created an imminent landslide risk, the city argues.

Tamara Barak Aparton, The Examiner
2008-03-28 11:00:00.0

PACIFICA - The owner of Shelter Cove, a community of 17 buildings on a beachfront property, has failed to maintain the property and has allegedly created an imminent landslide threat, according to a lawsuit filed by the city. Current conditions of the pedestrian path leading to the community of low-income tenants “pose an immediate threat of serious injury of death” to anyone traversing on the hillside or near the path, according to the lawsuit filed March 19.

Owner Arno Rohloff’s years of favoring the cheapest solution and providing makeshift and temporary access to his tenants over a permanent fix for the active landslide area has made the pedestrian path completely impassable, according to the lawsuit. The rudimentary measures have also put the properties above his land at risk of collapsing down the cliff, according to the lawsuit. Currently, a narrow path of dirt steps sloping down a steep cliff is the only way tenants can reach their homes.

Rohloff’s attorney, Francois Sorba, said his client has a permit pending with the city to construct a bridge-like path that will allow people to easily access their homes. He denied that Rohloff has been neglectful of Shelter Cove. “Mr. Rohloff has spent a lot of money dealing with his property and trying to comply with what the city has wanted,” Sorba said.

The battle between Rohloff and the city has been going on for years, said attorney Kimon Manolius, who is representing the city. However, storms that hit the area in January and February have transformed the problem into an emergency, he said. “The city is concerned about a pedestrian path going across an active landslide. They’re concerned someone is going to get hurt,” Manolius said.

City officials are seeking an order declaring Shelter Cove a public nuisance as well as a restraining order preventing Rohloff from employing any more makeshift measures that might worsen the landslide. They are also seeking an order that will require work on the landslide area to be approved and monitored by a state-licensed certified engineering geologist and geotechnical engineer. Officials also want danger signs to be posted.

The tiny neighborhood used to be a popular day stop for San Franciscans, but a 1960 storm washed out the access road, leaving it accessible only by foot or boat. Public access by footpath was closed in 1975, though there have been efforts since to make the beach open to the public.

tbarak@examiner.com

City Sues Owner of Shelter Cove

Download shelter_cove_lawsuit.pdf

Shelter Cove Beach May Be Reclaimed for Public

By Julia Scott, STAFF WRITER

SHELTER COVE BEACH MAY GO PUBLIC

The last west-facing road in Pacifica ends with a chain-link fence and a "No Trespassing" sign. This is the entrance to Shelter Cove, for many years a favorite weekend beach spot for crowds from San Francisco and Pacifica. These days, people are more likely to invite themselves onto the privately owned property...

View FULL STORY HERE

Shelter Cove Survey: Public Access to Pedro Point Beach

Riptide's cyberguru Frank Siciliano sent us a direct link to the Shelter Cove survey. This will take you right to the Coastal Commission questionnaire as a PDF download:

SHELTER COVE QUESTIONNAIRE

Or you can access it through the commission's Web site:

COASTAL COMMISSION QUESTIONNAIRE ON SHELTER COVE

Shelter Cove, The Early Years

Great article on Pacifica Riptide Web site! Thank you so much. Shelter Cove, the Early Years is also available from the Pacifica Historical Society in care of Kathleen Manning, 580 Crespi Drive, Pacifica, CA 94044. Florey's Books is at 2120 Palmetto Avenue, Pacifica. If you read my book, you'll see my credits to those who helped with pictures—invaluable additions for the book.

LENORE LAFAYETTE

Shelter Cove Memories

In the 1970s my uncle, who at that point was the president of Ocean Shore Railroad, mentioned that they received monthly checks from the person who ran the colony and was buying the cove. We used to go there on a Sunday with Dick Baldwin and spend the afternoon—no problem. 

JAN DUTTON

New Shelter Cove Category for Pacifica Riptide

Hey, Riptiders, for your convenience, we have gathered together all our posts and comments about Shelter Cove and the looming public beach access crisis/confrontation. Now you can find it all in the Shelter Cove category listed in our right sidebar. How's that for customer service! If you have stories and pictures about Shelter Cove, send them to us for posting and send a copy to Chris Mejia at chris@bigsalad.com

Thanks to Chris for suggesting this improvement to our site and for spearheading this issue in general. Good luck, Chris, may the force be with you.

Coastal Commission Questionnaire on Shelter Cove Access

When the Coastal Commission evaluates all of the data gathered from the questionnaires, here are the two big questions they will be asking: Did people feel like they used/ had access to Shelter Cove Beach as if it were a public place? Did people who went to the beach feel like they needed any permission to be there? If the majority of the answers are Yes and No, respectively, and the timeframe of unrestricted "permissive" use was at least five years, then they will have a good case for establishing legal prescriptive rights (i.e., a public easement) to the beach.

It is important to note that if you were invited to Shelter Cove by the owner, a resident (renter), or a business, then you were there by implied permission. This would NOT support our case for prescriptive rights. Think about your experiences there. Even if you were invited to Shelter Cove at times, it is important to recount times that you were there and were not particularly invited. Were there other members of the public coming and going at will? There are some fine lines, for sure.

Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll try my best to answer them. Keep in mind: I'm not a lawyer, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night :-)

Chris Mejia
chris@bigsalad.com

Lenore Navarra Lafayette: Shelter Cove History

(the author emailed replies to questions from Chris Mejia)

Your e-mail asks some questions that I can readily answer. First of all, my family leased the house on the Shelter Cove land. We came and went as we wanted. About the Forties, Mr. Lewis (owner at that time) started charging 50 cents per car. People still came at will. Weekends were the busiest times for visitors. To my knowledge, people just came down there to the beach when they wanted to - no invitations. You should see the pictures in my book, Shelter Cove the Early Years. You will see people sitting on the beach.  Mr. Lewis did not "invite" them to come. They just showed up (like you would go to Ocean Beach in S.F.)

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In answer to your question about a period when there was no charge to the general public, it would have to be in the Thirties. The fifty cent charge did not come into effect until the late thirties. I don't believe that anyone paid to get down to the Cove before that time. I think that a person could park elsewhere (maybe by the old depot) and walk down to the beach - just a few blocks away. {the book is available at Florey's bookstore on Palmetto}

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In 1927, my Dad was a realtor in San Francisco in the office of Charlie Burns. Charlie had a client who wanted to sell a small cottage that he owned at Shelter Cove. Dad, my Grandfather and two other relatives bought the house at the Cove for a mere $300 for summer get-aways. It was the land that was leased by the owner at the time, George Lewis. In my book, I have pictures that show a smaller house that my family remodeled, adding a garage, another bedroom and a large porch with windows that faced the ocean. We also added a wash room and sink with running water.

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Another story that I remember is that the neighbors talked about the train that used to run above the houses. Every time it passed, gravel rolled down the hill on top of the roofs below. Amazing what people will put up with when they want to live in a certain location! Our family did not have the house down there at that time. The train stories were so interesting. I was fascinated by the tales I was reading in the old newspapers that I found at Redwood City Library. There is a wealth of information available if you are willing to search for it. I spent a lot of hours in the library digging up the facts, and it was well worth it.

Lenore Navarra Lafayette

A Modest Proposal: Group Hike to Liberate Shelter Cove

Rick Steves, reporting from England, says they have public hiking trails all over the countryside. He says that once a year, on a specified day, hikers all over the country simply hike the trails to assert their easement rights. This sounds like something you could do with a group of interested hikers, going onto the beach that is supposed to be public. Just thought I’d pass this along as a possible peaceful and inexpensive (not legal action) solution.

LEGAL EAGLE