At Harbor Cove Beach in Ventura Calif. lie several volleyball courts, which have been established and used by the community for around 10 years. These courts, however, are unpermitted and sit on dune land, sparking controversy between members of the volleyball community and the commission agency, who have called for the potential removal of the courts and restoration of the dune land.
In February 2025, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) first raised the concern that the Ventura Port District (VPD) did not have a permit for the volleyball courts, though they have been established now for over 10 years. They have called for a relocation of the volleyball courts to restore the dune vegetation, in an attempt to preserve these coastal habitats. The commission agency claimed that the removal of these dunes, allegedly occurring in 2013, is a violation of California’s Coastal Act, enacted in 1976 to protect and preserve the coastal environment.
However, the commission agency has received heavy pushback from the VPD as well as the volleyball community at large. As stated in the VPD’s special meeting that took place on April 23, 2025, they challenged the claims that the land where the courts stand provide substantial habitat value. The Rincon Consultants’ memorandum supports their claims, stating that the area “supports low value habitat that is consistently shaped and disturbed by natural wind events and public use.”
The CCC also claimed that the installment of the volleyball courts and storage containers in this area violate Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas (ESHA), which is “any area in which plant or animal life or their habitats are either rare or especially valuable because of their special nature or role in an ecosystem and which could be easily disturbed or degraded by human activities and developments.” However, VPD challenged this allegation, stating that the existing use of the courts and storage containers in this area is already authorized by the Ventura Local Coastal Program (LCP), and that the LCP has not identified the aforementioned area as a “sensitive habitat.”
The beach volleyball courts are used by numerous volleyball organizations, such as Rise Volleyball Club and Los Angeles Volleyball Academy, as well as local high school teams and Ventura College. The courts are used for matches, tournaments and practices, and are also open to the public for recreational use.
Aliana Hangtin ‘25, a student at Foothill Technology High School (Foothill Tech), has been playing on the school’s beach volleyball team for three years. “Those are the same courts I started learning beach volleyball at when I was in middle school. It serves a lot of the youth in our community for a sport growing in popularity, especially since it recently became CIF [California Interscholastic Federation] sanctioned,” Hangtin said. The Foothill Tech beach volleyball team — which has recently become a CIF sport — utilizes these courts for games and sometimes tournaments.
The controversy of removing the beach volleyball courts has led to a petition spread across Ventura, which now has over 2,500 signatures. The petition, which has exceeded its goal, states that “more than 30 schools, over 20 clubs and thousands of young athletes utilize this venue every year,” and urges the volleyball community and local recreation enthusiasts to “join forces and help [them] preserve these courts for future generations.”
The future of the Ventura Harbor volleyball courts remains in the hands of the CCC, who are set to reconvene on May 9, 2025. The commission agency is voting on granting the VPD a permit to resume sand-management work on the Harbor that was previously paused in 2023 for lack of authorization from the commission, as well as decide the fate of the Harbor Cove beach courts. CCC staff stated that they are looking for a middle ground and would not force the volleyball courts to move, but as for now, the future of the Ventura Harbor beach volleyball courts remains undecided.
