EDITORIAL:A line in sand for beach encroachers

Not to encroach on Newport Beach officials’ job duties, but we do think they are doing one thing wrong: They shouldn’t be letting anyone who lives along the beach ? whether in West Newport or out at Peninsula Point ? add to their already enviable properties by extending them onto the public beach.

For years residents in West Newport have cultivated gardens, set up chairs and ? arguably ? made the land in front of their homes nicer. Some did so with city permission, paying between about $300 and $900 per year for the privilege. Others, in particular those farther toward the end of the peninsula, did so without such approval.

All was quiet until the city was alerted to the illegal encroachments. Faced with clear violations of city rules, city leaders had to do something. Unfortunately, what they have chosen to do potentially sets terrible precedents and is, quite simply, unfair to anyone not fortunate enough to live right along Newport’s shores. Rather than getting rid of all the encroachments, the city is allowing people in West Newport to maintain their extra land and is poised to give the same privilege to residents of Peninsula Point.

There are plenty of reasons city leaders need to take a tough stand on this issue and pull up the stakes, so to speak, even on the people who have long enjoyed a few extra feet of land along the beach.

For instance: