Crew removing collapsed deck. Screen grab from 10News.
Neighbors are reporting that the deck at The Inn at Sunset Cliffs collapsed a few days ago due to high surf eroding the cliffs below it.
10News reported:
Chris DuCharme, an Ocean Beach resident of 30 years, said a deck overlooking the beach collapsed at The Inn at Sunset Cliffs a few days ago, after the cliffs below crumbled.
“That entire patio behind me was all one patio about two to three weeks ago,” he said. He said it’s something he has seen plenty of times at Sunset Cliffs. “You get something like that,” he said. “Where you get a super high tide, and a big wave will come and double up on itself right at that patio and that wall.”
The bottom of a stairwell connected to the deck was also ripped away by the ocean. “It is very violent down there,” said DuCharme. “It’s like a big washing machine on the big cycle.” ..
Crews worked Wednesday morning to cut and remove large pieces of concrete and metal still hanging on to the partially collapsed deck. A crane was brought in to lift and remove the collapsed pieces.
An employee at the front office of The Inn at Sunset Cliffs said they could not comment on the issue.
The deck has actually been a source of controversy over the years. First, this is – of course – not the first time the deck / patio at The Inn has been damaged by high surf. Second, see these other concerns expressed by neighbors, here, here and here, plus this report of a 2017 OB Planning Board approval.
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Yep, hate to point it out but karma is a bitch. This location, and the hotel’s current and previous encroachment on the public coastline has been a bone of contention for at least a decade. Personally, I disagreed w/ OB Planning Board’s approval of the Inn’s latest encroachment in 2017:
“…These modifications had been done without a permit in previous years by former and current owners and in 2016 through an emergency permit…”
As someone who specializes in regulatory permitting, this was a transparent story that used all the tricks-
Well, guess what? At the end of the day, nature will reclaim, as it should. Whether its the Children’s Pool in La Jolla, the Inn at Sunset Cliffs, or the cliffs at Black’s Beach, when nature wants it back, its our job to let that happen and steward it appropriately. So buyer beware- if you want to glean a profit from the edge of coastline, be prepared for the risk.
The photo looks like the property South of the Inn.
It is the Inn. I had to watch the 10 News video to figure that out. What we really need is a good aerial photo from the forties or fifties.
Coast Law Group has the historical photos and survey which establish a portion of the deck was poured and repaired illegally on the public’s beach. OB beaches should be for OBceans not an Arizona businessman.
Good riddance. They illegally develop and fence off public land so they can run their business on it? Boo hoo, cry me a river!
Well, heck. I’ll have ocean-front property in a few years (for a few years)!
True that Vern and Triggerfinger! If this owner really wants a deck on his property let him go through the usual channels (like everyone else) of permitting with the Army Corps of Engineers for a Sect 10, the Regional Water Quality Control Board for a CWA Sect 401, the CA Dept of Fish&Wildlife for a 1602, and of course the CA Coastal Commission for a coastal development permit.
None of this emergency baloney, and I can assure you that will put a big dent in his shekels and take about 5 yrs, by which time the cliffs will have reclaimed some more of their wildness :-)