A Laguna Beach woman who set up umbrellas and empty beach chairs in front of a fenced-off area of sand at her beachfront home is being asked by the California Coastal Commission to remove the “unpermitted building” by Sept. 2, with warnings a violation could incur as much as $11,000 per day in fines.

The commission’s letter sent last week, and obtained by The Orange County Register, follows a July 18 video that went viral on social media. In the video, the Victoria Beach resident, who declined to comment through neighbors and closed the door when approached at her home, yells at beachgoers to get off her property and appears to extend a rope farther from her beachfront property to cordon off more of the sand.

“There has apparently been some confusion or disagreements about what areas are available for public use,” the letter says. “We write today to clarify the situation and help resolve any confusion about the public rights here.”

The commission “sends dozens of notices every year for all types of Coastal Act violations, including efforts to block or discourage public access to the beach,” spokesman Joshua Smith said. The commission would not release the letter sent to the resident. “While it’s not as common for our agency to engage with homeowners following a personal conflict with beachgoers, when we looked into the situation in Laguna Beach we felt there was unpermitted development that warranted a formal response.”

The Coastal Commission is also saying in its letter that the objects and a rope placed out cause “interference with public access to a recorded public access easement,” which it says is a dedicated street that appears on documents, though never built.

The California Coastal Act guarantees public access to 1,000 miles of beaches up to the mean high tide line, which typically can be determined as where the sand gets wet – the line can change with the tide and movement of sand, which often brings it close to beachfront homes. According to the law, property owners cannot legally prevent people from setting up their beach umbrellas, towels and other beach gear in that public zone.

The state legislature passed the law in 1976 to protect public beach access and manage and conserve coastal resources.

“Upon investigation of the incident, staff confirmed that unpermitted development has been undertaken at your property and the adjacent property, including a variety of measures apparently undertaken to discourage public use of the beach in the vicinity of your property, including but not limited to verbal harassment of beachgoers that has interfered with public access to public land and a public access easement,” the seven-page letter signed by Diana Garcia, the commission’s district enforcement officer, says.

The letter adds that the commission’s staff reviewed its files and “determined that no coastal development permit has been issued to authorize the development.”

As part of its review, the commission staff also found that the woman has no development permit from the city of and, therefore, the letter says, “the placement of the fence on her property also constitutes unpermitted development” and violates the Coastal Act.

The letter also says similar correspondence regarding unpermitted placement of rope would be sent to neighbors.

The letter asks for a response and removal of the unpermitted building, or a penalty “may be assessed for each day the violation persists for up to five years.”

Laguna Beach City Manager Dave Kiff said the city is not involved.

“Typically, we rely on the Coastal Commission,” he said Tuesday, “for enforcement activity regarding people’s right to access the beach.”

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