Sean Parker and Alexandra Lenas in 2012.
Vince Bucci/Associated PressThe scenery of Big Sur, chosen by Parker for its beauty, lacked a space flat enough for the dance floor. The carved up ground could disrupt drainage in the forest ecosystem, according to the California Coastal Commission.
Trees and their root systems have been disrupted by the construction, as have tributaries within the natural landscape that divert necessary water into nearby steelhead habitats.
Construction of fake bridges, walls and waterways (with no environmental consideration) could harm the nearby breeding ground for steelhead trout, according to the California Coastal Commission. Steelhead trout are currently considered a "threatened" species by the federal government.
Natural fixtures, such as this decades-old redwood, were built into the plans of the wedding site. This kind of abutting is not permitted by The California Coastal comission, as it could affect further growth and overall health.
Parker's wedding fixtures have accrued an estimated $2.5 million in damages and penalties. He says he's happy to pay, in order to "support important conservation related projects." The first project, presumably, will be removing his unauthorized construction.
Without permits or environmental impacts fully understood, construction for Parker's wedding included rock walls, structures and new, manicured greenery.
Campsite in the Ventana Campground operated by the Ventana inn.
Stan Russell/SFCIn a novel punishment for a Silicon Valley bad boy, former Facebook president Sean Parker will not only have to fork out $2.5 million to make amends for his environmental blunder at his Big Sur wedding last year, authorities said Thursday.
He must also create a beach-mapping app for the state agency that busted him.
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Parker, who also co-founded the pioneering music service Napster, agreed to do the high-tech form of community service as part of an unusual legal settlement with the California Coastal Commission, which was inked last year. New details of the deal were released this week.
The agency accused the billionaire of failing to get permits for his lavish $10 million wedding in June 2013 at a private campground, where he built props that encroached upon potentially sensitive redwood forest.
“We’re now working with his technical team, which is orders of magnitude beyond what we would be able to summon in terms of technical expertise within our agency,” said commission spokeswoman Sarah Christie.
The mobile app that Parker and the state are developing, Christie said, will help beach-goers navigate the sometimes tricky routes around private property to California’s always-public coastline.
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“It was a creative resolution ... that will ultimately benefit public access,” she said.
Part of the Coastal Commission’s job is to ensure beach access, as witnessed in the agency’s recent showdown with land owner Vinod Khosla, the Sun Microsystems co-founder, over a gated private road to Martins Beach near Half Moon Bay.
Also as part of the legal settlement, Parker and his wife, Alexandra Lenas, will give $1.4 million to eight conservation programs, including $345,000 for the San Francisco-based Save the Redwoods League. The group will rebuild a section of Big Sur’s popular Pfeiffer Falls Trail, which was damaged by a 2008 wildfire.
Work on other nearby trails will also be funded, as will several groups serving at-risk youth in the area.
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“We are pleased that the Parkers are committed to supporting the good work of these important organizations,” Coastal Commission Executive Director Charles Lester said in a statement.
The remainder of the settlement represents fines against the owner of the property where the wedding was held, the Ventana Inn and Spa. Parker indemnified the hotel against any unexpected costs related to the event.
After taking a beating in the press for not seeking approvals for constructing the ceremony sets, Parker told The Chronicle last year that he had gone out of his way to seek advice from conservationists and the property owner about how to minimize his impact on the land. As it turns out, he was incorrectly told he did not need permits, he said.
“Two people do not go to enormous lengths to get married in a redwood grove only to run roughshod over it,” Parker said at the time. “They do so out of respect, because they love the redwood forest, feel a connection to the forest, and want to share that with their friends and family.”
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In a statement this week, Parker wrote that he and his wife were “proud” to hand over settlement money that would benefit the coast.
Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kurtisalexander
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