Malibu's rich and famous to pay $31 million to keep their homes from washing away
The owners of 121 individual parcels of land in the Broad Beach community have pledged $31 million over the next 10 years to rebuild and fortify their prized beachfront, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Some of the community's residents include Dustin Hoffman, Ray Romano, and Pierce Brosnan.
The money will be used to truck gigantic mounds of sand from California quarries to the 1.1 mile beachfront.
That sand will recreate 65 to 75 feet of beachfront and 50 to 60 feet of natural dunes above a new man-made seawall, which will protect the multimillion dollar homes from storm surges.
The objective is to make the beach look more like it did back in the 1970s, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The fact that this plan is being funded entirely by the homeowners is unprecedented. But that doesn't mean it wasn't a long road to get to this point.
The California Coastal Commission only approved the plan by a vote of 7 to 5, with dissenting voices claiming the plan might not work as intended and may end up limiting public beach access.
Some coastal access advocates claim the new seawall will exacerbate the loss of the sea-facing sand in front of the wall. The homeowners originally asked for a 20-year plan, but the commission only approved the current 10-year.
The work is slated to begin after this coming winter.