Oppose AB 1740 – Keep California's Coast for Everyone!

California's coastline belongs to all Californians, not just those wealthy enough to live near it. For 50 years, the California Coastal Act has guaranteed every resident the right to reach and enjoy our public shores. AB 1740 would gut those protections in ways unseen since the Act was passed in 1976.

Under the guise of promoting bike lanes and transit, AB 1740 creates a sweeping new loophole — the "urban multimodal community" designation — that would exempt Santa Monica from the Coastal Development Permit process with almost no scrutiny. 

The consequences are severe. The bill would allow immediate removal of coastal parking along any state highway, cutting off beach access for inland families who have no other way to get there. It would enable preferential parking for coastal residents, allow fee hikes with no public appeal, and promote luxury housing and hotel development — all exempt from environmental review, sea level rise analysis, and public comment.

This is the largest rollback of coastal protections in a generation, and it cuts the public out of the process entirely.

The bill's beneficiary is Santa Monica — one of only 12 coastal cities that hasn't completed its Local Coastal Program, despite receiving $375,000 in state grants to do so. The straightforward fix already exists: Complete the process the other 64 coastal jurisdictions have done.

If this bill passes, it will provide a template for cities and counties along the coast to create their own exemptions, creating a future in which the people of California lose access to the coast – and coastal habitats lose the protections critical to California's identity and economy!

Keep California's Coast for Everyone is calling on lawmakers to oppose AB 1740 unless all Coastal Act exemptions are removed. Protect our constitutional right to California's shared coastline — for all people.