The Coastal Act turns 50 today: what it has decided on the Mendocino coast

MENDOCINO CO., 9/24/26 — In 2006, a group of Gualala business and property owners added a 15-minute fireworks show to Patriot Days, the town’s Fourth of July weekend celebration. The fireworks went up near the Gualala River estuary and Gualala Point Island.

Then the phone calls came. People told the California Coastal Commission the fireworks had disturbed seabirds nesting on the island. The commission decided the show was “development” under the Coastal Act and needed a permit.