Malibu's 'Billionaire's Beach' Now Open To The Public For First Time Ever
MALIBU (CBSLA.com) — The path to what's nicknamed "Billionaire's Beach" has been opened to the public for the first time.
But not everyone is celebrating the new entrance to Carbon Beach West.
"Everyday there's people parking in front of my house and then they're putting trash all over the streets - it's a huge difference," Carbon Beach homeowner Tracy Park said.
The accessways along this stretch of beach have been the center of a decades-long dispute between the California Coastal Commission and property owners who've refused to open the path.
The Zonker accessway and the East Path are already open but Carbon West is now open for the very first time.
Celebrities, including David Geffen, fought for years to block some of the access points.
Celebrity driver Roy Rodriguez works for a celebrity homeowner and says the beach access further limits the privacy Hollywood stars have from the public: "People want to reach over, see who lives there, be nosy, be wondering..."
Beachgoers say as long as everyone's respectful there shouldn't be a problem.
"It's a public beach. It's for everybody to enjoy," beachgoer Eleanor Metoyer said. "I mean, that's why it's here."
An attorney for the homeowner at the center of the battle over this accessway says this is not about the rich versus the poor. The homeowner believes the county already had a permit to put in a path near hers, and that's exactly what they should have done.
