A coastal estate in Big Sur is granted after-the-fact permits, but it’s still being rented illegally.

As the cliché goes: Sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission, not that $558,600 in accrued fines is forgiveness, exactly.

On July 11, the Monterey County Zoning Administrator convened a meeting to consider granting after-the-fact construction permits for a 5.8-acre coastal property in southern Big Sur at 54722 Highway 1, 10.5 miles north of Lucia. It even has a name – “Wind & Sea” – and since 2016, the county has received complaints that the property has been illegally operating as a short-term rental and event center; a subsequent investigation found that to be true, and despite the county’s order to desist from using the property for such purposes by Jan. 27, 2023, the illegal use continues to this day. The property has an active, slick website – windandseabigsur.com.

But that’s not what the July 11 meeting was about. Rather, it was clearing up unpermitted construction of the property that includes converting the garage into a guesthouse, building an outdoor sauna, two copper hot tubs, a patio and a deck within 50 feet of a coastal bluff and within 100 feet of environmentally sensitive habitat.

County planners recommended granting the after-the-fact permits, except there was one deck – there are two on the property – that planners recommended for removal because it’s on a slope in excess of 30 percent, which is not compliant with the Big Sur Coast Land Use Policy. (Though the project was subject to a review by South Coast Land Use Advisory Committee, county staff did not refer it for a review because slip-outs on Highway 1 in 2023 and 2024 impaired access to the would-be meeting location.)

Property owner Alex Sakakian attended the July 11 meeting virtually and asked Acting Zoning Administrator Mike Novo for a continuance so he could consult with contractors and attorneys about removing the deck and restoring 11,750 square feet of environmentally sensitive habitat in the one-year window proposed by county officials.

Novo was unswayed – Novo said Sakakian had plenty of time to consult with experts since applying for after-the-fact permits four years ago, in 2020.

Novo expressed concern about habitat restoration in particular. The property is home to seacliff buckwheat, habitat for federally endangered Smith’s blue butterfly. The project’s biologist estimated that 30 such plants were removed during the unpermitted improvements.

“We take these things very seriously, as I think the owner has found out,” Novo said. “I know it’s frustrating for the public how long these things take,” he added.

During the meeting, Sakakian said that the property continues to operate as a short-term rental and event venue – he says he has a long-term lease with an operator that runs it – and gave no indication those uses would stop anytime soon.

“Visitors like Wind & Sea,” he implored, adding that if such uses are disallowed, some property owners won’t be able to pay their mortgages.

Ramon Montano, the county’s code enforcement officer working on the matter of the short-term rental violation, could not be reached by the Weekly’s deadline.

Novo, the Zoning Administrator, approved of the after-the-fact permits for the construction.