A Political Victory to Protect Wild Coastal Land

Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky discusses how the approval of new plans will preserve a stretch of unincorporated Southern California coastline.

2 minute read

May 14, 2014, 12:00 PM PDT

By Molly M. Strauss @mmstrauss


Over four decades of work yielded results in April for government officials who had spent their careers seeking to protect a five-mile portion of the Santa Monica Mountains that runs along the coast in Los Angeles County. When the California Coastal Commission approved the Land Use Plan, setting the stage to certify the Local Coastal Program that will govern the area, it reflected a consensus among property owners, environmentalists, agricultural interests, and equestrian representatives that had taken many years to build. LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky spoke with The Planning Report about the efforts to draft a document that could satisfied these stakeholders, the impact of the plan's approval, and steps still necessary to ensure that the mountains flourish in the future.

Yaroslavsky, who was elected to Los Angeles City Council in 1975 and has been a county supervisor for 20 years, describes how the plan he helped design will prevent subdivisions and other potentially harmful development from encroaching on an ecosystem that is beginning to see the return of wildlife, in close proximity to the metropolitan area's 15 million people. Beyond that, he articulates the challenges still facing the area that will fall to the next generation of political leaders to resolve. 

In Zev's words, "We are protecting the ridgelines from being sawed off. We’re protecting the oak groves and the sycamore groves from being destroyed. We’re protecting the rivers and rivulets from being polluted. We’re also protecting the Santa Monica Bay from being polluted by upstream pollutants. Basically, we’re protecting it from ourselves. My philosophy has always been to let the terrain dictate the development, not the other way around. People who own private property have a right to use it, but they don’t have a right to destroy the very thing that attracted them in the first place."

Thursday, May 8, 2014 in The Planning Report

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Cover CM Credits, Earn Certificates, Push Your Career Forward

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

June 25, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Person wearing mask walking through temporary outdoor dining setup lined with bistro lights at dusk in New York City.

Restaurant Patios Were a Pandemic Win — Why Were They so Hard to Keep?

Social distancing requirements and changes in travel patterns prompted cities to pilot new uses for street and sidewalk space. Then it got complicated.

June 19, 2025 - Diana Ionescu

Map of Western U.S. indicating public lands that would be for sale under a Senate plan in yellow and green.

Map: Where Senate Republicans Want to Sell Your Public Lands

For public land advocates, the Senate Republicans’ proposal to sell millions of acres of public land in the West is “the biggest fight of their careers.”

June 19, 2025 - Outdoor Life

Aerial view of town of Wailuku in Maui, Hawaii with mountains in background against cloudy sunset sky.

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly

Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

July 1 - Honolulu Civil Beat

White and purple sign for Slow Street in San Francisco, California with people crossing crosswalk.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths

Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

July 1 - KQED

Tents inhabited by unhoused people lined up on sidewalk in Los Angeles, California in front of industrial building.

California Homeless Arrests, Citations Spike After Ruling

An investigation reveals that anti-homeless actions increased up to 500% after Grants Pass v. Johnson — even in cities claiming no policy change.

July 1 - Times of San Diego

Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools

This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.

Planning for Universal Design

Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.