Santa Maria Times
- Updated
Barbed-wire fencing and no trespassing signs that a property owner installed blocking access to a portions of a popular hiking trail between Shell Beach and Avila Beach have been removed.
Property owner Rob McCarthy had the fencing and signs taken down this week, after receiving a letter from the Coastal Commission telling him he must do so or face stiff penalties.
In a letter dated Feb. 20, Coastal Commission code enforcement staff told McCarthy, who lives in Texas but plans to retire in Avila Beach, that he had until March 10 to remove the fencing, signs and gate that were blocking access to the trail.