Malibu Residents To Cover $31M Tab For Beach Restoration Project

MALIBU (CBSLA.com) — Local homeowners along one of Malibu's most high-profile stretches of real estate plan to spend $31 million to protect their homes from flooding.

The residents of Broad Beach, known as one of the prime locations of the coast in Malibu for ritzy homes, say that the beach is eroding, and they are taking the drastic measure in order to replenish the beach and save the natural habitat.

"There's been severe erosion at the beach, and Heal the Bay is of the perspective that something has to happen here to restore the beach and dunes back to some natural extent," Heal the Bay Vice President Sarah Sikich stated.

The California Coastal Commission voted to approve the restoration, which is expected to last 10 years, and will cost $31 million. The residents living along the stretch of beach will pay for the restoration, which will require thousands of truckloads of sand to cover the beach, as well focus on the man-made rock barrier.

"Eventually mother nature will come by and take the sand back, so I think it's kind of a useless entity," resident John Bryan said. "If anything they might think about putting in some more rocks."

The agreement also includes some residents moving off of septic tanks, and connecting to a waste-water treatment facility. Experts say this will reduce the risk of pollutants leaking from the homes into the sea.

This type of restoration, in which a rock wall is used as a base, has never been done, and experts have stated they are not sure it will hold up against the surf.