County supervisors Tuesday gave Bolinas homeowner Ralph Garside 30 days to remove a series of stairs, landings, and decks that lead down a cliff from his Ocean Avenue home to the beach.
The supervisors rejected Garside's appeal to save the structures, which had been built without permits, and asked the Coastal Commission for enforcement assistance.
The commission, which can impose hefty fines for delays, had offered to help the county, Supervisor Gary Giacomini said.
The stairs, landings, and decks descending 250 feet to the beach are only part of the illegal structures on Garside's property, county planning staffer Andrea Fox earlier reported.
The other structures include: a 900-square-foot barn, a 1,137-square-foot addition to a house, a 747-square-foot aviary, and retaining walls and gazebos.
Of particular concern to neighbor Paul Kayfetz are earth anchors which, he said, Garside drilled 33 feet horizontally into the cliff. The anchors are attached to cables that hold up the stairs, landings, and decks.
The anchors consist of bundles of rebar in concrete, Kayfetz said, and the weight of the stairway is pulling open a crack in the cliff. The crack now extends 150 feet into Kayfetz's property and has caused 25 percent of his backyard to sink up to six feet, he added.
Kayfetz said he does not intend to sue Garside: "I'm just trying to contain the damage by getting the county to make him cut the cables."
During a 90-minute supervisors' hearing, Garside rebutted Kayfetz's contentions, saying none of his construction had caused problems.
Garside's attorney, Eric Miller of San Francisco, also claimed the county is discriminating against his client by only selectively enforcing the building code in Bolinas. County staff responded they are also looking at several other properties.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the hearing, noted Giacomini, was Miller's additional claim that Garside is being targeted because he is a homosexual. The supervisor said Garside clapped when Miller made the allegation.
However, the supervisor added, "We all said, 'What?' No one here knew or cared."
The supervisor said Miller appeared to be setting the stage for a lawsuit.
The supervisors, however, agreed Garside can keep his barn if he can move it to an acceptable location.
Kayfetz afterwards said Garside has retaliated against the enforcement action by turning in other allegedly permit-less structures in Bolinas to the county.
Garside could not be reached for a comment, and calls to his attorney were not returned.