Surfer plaintiffs, Palos Verdes Estates reach partial settlement

The city of Palos Verdes Estates has reached a "partial settlement" with surfers who accused it of violating the California Coastal Act by conspiring with a local surf gang to prevent outsiders from riding its waves.

A minute order issued by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Lawrence P. Riff Wednesday afternoon indicated that the parties participated in a settlement conference with Judge Timothy Dillon and agreed to suspend trial proceedings. Trial will resume if a deal is not finalized. Details of the proposed settlement were not released.

It's a potentially anticlimactic end to a lawsuit that has received a lot of attention. Two visiting surfers and a non-profit sued Palos Verdes Estates and more than a dozen alleged Lunada Bay Boys in 2016. They said city officials looked the other way as the group of local surfers attacked visitors and vandalized their vehicles to keep the beach and its prized waves for themselves. That conduct goes back decades - Lunada Bay is famous for its surf localism.

One of the plaintiffs, El Segundo Police Officer Cory Spencer, said he paid a security guard $100 to watch his car while he surfed. In the water, one of the Bay Boys intentionally ran him over, cutting his hand with a surfboard fin, he claimed.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Amy D. Hogue dismissed the case against the city in 2020. She found that under the Coastal Act the city could not be held liable for the presence of a beach fort allegedly built by the Bay Boys if there was no evidence that the city built or consented to its construction.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal reversed Hogue's ruling in February 2023, holding that the city could be held responsible for the unpermitted rock fort which the Bay Boys allegedly used as a clubhouse and base of operations. More significantly, it held that the totality of the Bay Boys' conduct constituted a "development" under the Coastal Act. Spencer v. City of Palos Verdes Estates, 2023 DJDAR 1626 (2nd Dist., op. filed Feb. 27, 2023).

The appellate ruling represented a setback for the city, which argued that public entities would be exposed to potentially significant fines if they are found liable for violating the Coastal Act based upon the conduct of private citizens on public property.

All but one of the alleged Bay Boys settled before trial. Those that settled denied committing the alleged behavior but agreed to stay away from Lunada Bay for a period of time.

But the trial has not gone well for the plaintiffs, who struggled with witnesses that appeared hostile. Last week Judge Lawrence P. Riff told plaintiffs' attorneys, Kurt A. Franklin and Victor J. Otten, that trial was not moving efficiently, and that he needed to hear evidence showing that the Bay Boys conspired with the city.

The Bay Boys called to testify denied that there was a conspiracy with the city or unwritten rules at Lunada Bay that they enforced. Steve Barber, a police captain with Palos Verdes Estates, disputed plaintiffs' claims that they don't take surf localism seriously. A former police chief with the city testified that city officials shielded residents accused of harassing visitors.

Franklin is a director with Fennemore Craig PC. Otten is with Otten Law PC. Best Best & Krieger LLP partner Christopher M. Pisano is representing Palos Verdes Estates at trial.