--- title: "Malibu red-tags parcels along PCH as erosion eats into the burn scar coast" description: "Malibu red-tagged several parcels along Pacific Coast Highway in the Palisades Fire burn area on July 27, blocking pedestrian access to unstable ground. High tides and surf have accelerated erosion where seawalls belonging to destroyed homes no longer break the waves, and the city says the erosion has reached close to the roadway in several places." category: "Los Angeles" category_url: https://herald.la/category/los-angeles author: "Valeria Ortiz" published: 2026-08-02T04:52:00.000Z updated: 2026-08-02T04:52:00.000Z canonical: https://herald.la/article/malibu-red-tags-parcels-along-pch-as-erosion-eats-into-the-burn-scar-coast tags: ["malibu", "pch", "erosion", "palisades-fire", "caltrans", "coast"] --- # Malibu red-tags parcels along PCH as erosion eats into the burn scar coast Malibu red-tagged several parcels along Pacific Coast Highway in the Palisades Fire burn area on July 27, blocking pedestrian access to unstable ground. High tides and surf have accelerated erosion where seawalls belonging to destroyed homes no longer break the waves, and the city says the erosion has reached close to the roadway in several places. The City of Malibu red-tagged several parcels along Pacific Coast Highway on July 27, an immediate step to keep people off ground that is no longer safe to stand on, [according to the city's own announcement](https://www.malibucity.org/m/newsflash/home/detail/2124). The parcels are in the Palisades Fire burn area. The fire, in January 2025, destroyed beachfront homes along that stretch, and it took their seawalls with them. ## Why the erosion accelerated This is the mechanism, and it is worth understanding because it will keep producing news. A row of beachfront houses is also, incidentally, a row of engineered structures holding back the ocean. When the houses burned, the seawalls stopped doing that job. Recent high tides and high surf have since worked on an unprotected shoreline, and the city says erosion has advanced close to the roadway in several locations. In other words, the fire damage that everyone could see in January 2025 has produced a second kind of damage eighteen months later, to the ground the highway sits on. ## What is actually closed We want to be precise here, because a version of this story has circulated as a beach road closure. What the city announced is red-tagging of parcels, which prevents pedestrian access to unsafe coastal areas. The announcement names Pacific Coast Highway. It does not name a specific beach, and it does not announce a closure of PCH itself. If you are planning a Malibu beach trip, that means the practical answer is: check before you go. The city posts updates through its own alert channels, and Caltrans handles highway conditions. We are not going to tell you a specific beach is open or shut on the basis of an announcement that names neither. ## Who is working on it More agencies than usual, which is a signal of how the city is treating this. Malibu says it is working with Caltrans, and that it has been in contact with Governor Gavin Newsom's office. SoCalGas and Waterworks District 29 are also involved, which tells you that gas and water infrastructure runs through the ground in question. The stated goal is temporary protective measures before winter. The announcement does not specify what those measures would be, what they would cost, or when they would be installed. "Protecting public safety and nearby properties is the City's highest priority," the city said. ## Why winter is the deadline Because the next round of this is forecastable. Federal forecasters put high odds on a strong El Niño developing through the fall, which raises sea level along this coast and brings bigger waves. An El Niño winter does not reliably mean more rain in Southern California, but the coastal signal is the part forecasters are most confident about, and it lands directly on the stretch of shoreline Malibu is now trying to armor. The city has roughly four months. ## Sources - [City coordinating with Caltrans to address coastal erosion on PCH in Palisades Fire area](https://www.malibucity.org/m/newsflash/home/detail/2124)