The Coastal Commission is fighting a Carmel Highlands couple's plans for a tunnel to the beach.

Looking at the James House through apartment-renter''s eyes is an exercise in humility--and desire.

The gate at 105 Highway 1 disguises the spectacular old home. It looks at first like any other Carmel Highlands mansion with an ocean view. But from a turnout on Highway 1 just south of the driveway, through the Monterey pines and the cypress trees, the big stone house built into the rocky cliff appears in its magnificence. It looks as though the famed architect Charles Sumner Greene, who designed and built the place between 1918 and 1922, couldn''t decide between a grand Spanish Mission home and a stone cottage. It''s got an 180 degree view of the ocean, outdoor courtyards and nearly 3,000 square feet of floor space.

All it needs is a tunnel.

Hidden from the highway is a small rocky beach below the house, only 50 feet wide. Kirk and Susan diCicco, who manage the property for owners Joseph and Sharon Ritchie, want to build a tunnel through the sea cliff and a private underground staircase leading from the boiler room to the rocky beach.

Historically, owners have used a wooden stairway to get to the beach. But high tides and stormy weather have repeatedly washed it away. Now there''s a worn trail through a steep ravine that leads to the cove.

On June 27, the County Planning Commission voted unanimously to allow the diCiccos to drill and blast through the cliff. The approved permit also waived the existing policy prohibiting development on slopes in excess of 30 percent, and allowed use of excavated material from the tunnel (193 cubic yards of bedrock) to construct two new retaining walls and to reconstruct and repair existing walls on the three-acre property.

The diCiccos and Ritchies were on their way to happy tunneling. Until the California Coastal Commission stepped in, appealing the county''s decision and putting at least a temporary halt to the tunnel.

According to Stephanie Mattraw, the Coastal Commission''s environmental services intern, the tunnel doesn''t mesh with several of the county''s Local Coastal Program policies having to do with geological hazards, environmentally sensitive habitat and visuals. What''s to keep a breaker from washing out the tunnel, she wonders, and the beach-goers inside?

The Coastal Commission agenda for September was published Aug. 20. On Aug. 21, the Weekly called Susan diCicco, who said she wasn''t talking to anybody about the tunnel. That same day, the diCiccos pulled the item off the agenda.

"It''s a private matter," diCicco said before hanging up.

Carmel Supervisor Dave Potter disagrees. "If it necessitates a permit, it becomes a public matter," Potter says. "They''ve already had one public hearing, and there''s the possibility of a second one coming up [with the Coastal Commission.] It''s not called a private hearing."

At this point, Mattraw says, the diCiccos may alter the existing plans for the tunnel, or scrap all explosive ideas and continue to hoof if down the ravine. It''s more likely to turn up on the October agenda, which will be finalized by the end of September.

Blueprints by architect Jed Butler show a winding, underground stairway inside an 8-foot-tall by 3.5-foot-wide tunnel, about 180 feet long, descending 67 vertical feet.

The beach end of the tunnel would have some type of doorway, and would be designed to resemble a cave, intending to blend in with the surrounding rocks.

County planners say the project passes muster by the Carmel Area Local Coastal Program. It doesn''t take out any trees, or require grading for buildings of roads or extensive landform alteration. They also argue that it doesn''t alter the shoreline, although the Coastal Commission disagrees.

The Coastal Commission appeal points out several geologic hazards. "This area should be considered unsuitable for the proposed development because it is located in a high-hazard [area] due to the highly fractured granite bedrock through which the tunnel would be constructed," reads the appeal, adding that the tunnel would cause significant damage to the natural environment, and is likely to increase the rate of erosion. Furthermore, the opening to the tunnel is located in an area frequented by strong storm surges--again, there are the personal safety concerns.

"Another reason for the appeal is that the project is located in an environmentally sensitive area," Mattraw says. According to the Carmel Area Land Use Plan, rocky intertidal areas, kelp beds, rookeries and haul-out sites are all important roosting spots. All four types of habitat are found immediately next to the proposed tunnel site. It''s also located within the boundaries of the California Sea Otter State Game Refuge. And finally, the Coastal Commission''s staff isn''t fooled by a tunnel door cleverly disguised as a rocky cave entrance. According to a very specific Carmel Area Land Use Policy, extensive landform alterations shall not be permitted.

The last line of the appeal is the most specific, as it challenges "drilling and/or blasting an access tunnel through the cliff to the beach below, creating extensive landform alteration."

Susan diCicco will not say whether she or her clients intend to proceed with their plan. When told that the Weekly was writing a story about the tunnel with or without her comment, her reply was, "Good luck," she replied. She may need some, too.