On Tuesday, September 9, the San Diego City Council unanimously approved a sweeping plan to fight sea-level rise by reconfiguring iconic city locations including Sunset Cliffs, Ocean Beach and Tourmaline Surf Park. The Council passed the coastal resilience master plan, despite some community backlash, which supposedly opts for nature-based solutions like dunes instead of older methods like seawalls and culverts.
The project facing the most public backlash is the one in Sunset Cliffs, where city officials want to shrink Sunset Cliffs Boulevard to one lane and possibly start charging drivers to park. Despite the cash-strapped city focusing recently on boosting parking revenue by beginning to charge in many places, including Balboa Park, charging at Sunset Cliffs had not previously been mentioned.
The plan just passed has major changes in store for Sunset Cliffs.
The major focus is to enhance the existing resources and protect public safety without compromising the structural integrity of the cliff or current infrastructure. The project concept includes:
- trail enhancements,
- adding native plants to the linear park,
- drainage improvements
- removal of paved parking lots from the cliffs.
- Road reconfiguration will be considered for a section of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard.
- To include re-configuring the boulevard from a two-lane, north-south major collector road to a single southbound lane and
- creating a protected walkway for pedestrians and cyclists;
- possibly paid parking along cliffs
For Ocean Beach – Dog Beach and Beachfront (Pier), the plan includes:
- Restore dune habitat near Smiley Lagoon and
- build a new multi-use path for pedestrians and cyclists fronted by elevated, vegetated dunes;
- the multi-use path would provide mobility connection from the San Diego River bikeway to the Ocean Beach Pier.
Here’s a breakdown of other project sites, some with alternative concepts, providing options to address site-specific constraints and opportunities:
La Jolla Shores
The “Amphitheater Design” concept maintains the existing alignment for La Jolla Shores and includes two different flood protection strategies.
Along the western borders of La Jolla Shores Park and Kellogg Park, an elevated linear earthen dike would be constructed between the grassy area and the La Vereda pedestrian path. Along the seaward border of the parking lot (between the parking lot and the La Vereda pedestrian path), a terraced seatwall would be constructed to provide a viewing and seating area with flood protection benefits.
The reconfigured park concept would realign the parking lot and grassy recreational areas. A grassy recreational area would be added along the entire western edge of the site (formerly parking lot) creating a large linear and continuous grassy park.
Tourmaline State Park
The proposed sand-and-cobble dune would be vegetated with native plantings to provide ecological benefits through introduction of rare plant species and potential habitat for various avian species.
Additional seating and enhanced viewing areas would be integrated into the top of the vegetated dune. Optional components include covering or undergrounding the existing drainage culvert along the north edge of the project site to create additional green space and a pedestrian pathway and/or stormwater improvements through the addition of an underground vault beneath the parking lot to capture runoff and provide water quality treatment.
Mission Beach
The “Sand Dune” concept for Mission Beach would construct an elevated sand dune seaward (west) of the seawall and Ocean Front Walk. The proposed sand dunes would be planted with native flora to provide ecological benefits.
The proposed sand dunes would be permanent fixtures at the project site, and would be designed to provide protection from existing and projected flooding impacts associated with sea-level rise. The “Perched Beach” concept for Mission Beach considers swapping out a portion of grass recreational space at Mission Beach Park for a perched sand beach.
A perched beach is an elevated beach area that would provide increased usable beach space when water levels are higher and offers a reservoir of sand for the adjacent beach area. This would be achieved by realigning the seawall and Ocean Front Walk inland. This concept could be implemented in conjunction with a dune feature stretching north along the project site.
Still, the proposals faced opposition from some community members and local planning groups. Last week, the Peninsula Community Planning Board expressed support for the city’s coastal protection efforts but opposed the one-lane road conversion, citing safety concerns and potential neighborhood disruption.
Local residents share similar worries about increased traffic congestion and parking challenges. “It’s crazy. We got too much traffic, it’s gonna get congested and then it’s going to create more havoc as far as parking and people in line trying to get somewhere, you got to be here at 4 o’clock in the morning just to find a place to park. That don’t make sense,” one resident said.
Councilmember Jennifer Campbell, who represents Mission Beach and the Ocean Beach/Sunset Cliffs area, stressed to her frustrated constituents that the projects in the plan are essentially only rough ideas. “I want the public to realize these are conceptual ideas,” Campbell said. “We are in the trying-to-figure-it-out phase.”
City officials called the projects “high-level” concept designs that could change significantly after engineering analysis and other work gets completed in the next phase, which will also include cost estimates. “These are high-level concept designs that need additional technical studies and community engagement,” said assistant planning director Kelley Stanco. “This is a first step. There will be many steps before the projects are actually implemented.”
Community input
The line from the City, councilmembers and staff is that ‘it’s all good.’ Reacting to recent statements made regarding an alleged lack of community stakeholder meetings and engagement on the plan, the city Planning Department noted that “community engagement is a key component of the CRMP.”
The media follow the city’s line and report:
As a citywide planning initiative, community engagement included opportunities for the broader San Diego community as well as opportunities for the immediate communities to provide feedback. This occurred through pop-up events, an online survey, community workshops, community webinars and the Community Planner’s Committee.
Information was shared through the Coastal Resilience Master Plan website and through email notifications to anyone who requested it.
“The input received directly influenced the CRMP,” said Peter King, a city spokesperson. “The Report to council summarizes the input received and how the plan has been shaped and refined based upon that input.
“As the projects shift into the implementation phase, the city will continue to engage with community members at the project level to develop more detailed designs that are informed by technical studies, implementation trials and community input.”
Scott McCaskill of the Ocean Beach Community Foundation said there has been strong backlash against the city’s plans. “It does not seem well-thought-out at all,” he told the council Tuesday. “We have received nearly universal condemnation to the idea of installing any paid parking at the cliffs or OB.”
Javier Saunders of the Peninsula Community Planning Board also criticized the plan, which he said would push drivers off Sunset Cliffs Boulevard onto less trafficked streets. “Redirecting traffic through local residential streets will lead to increased traffic safety concerns,” he said.
Saunders also said nature-based solutions alone can’t fight sea-level rise effectively at Sunset Cliffs, praising the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for saving them with more old-fashioned solutions in the 1970s. “While natural-based solutions may provide some environmental benefit, they are inadequate on their own to protect public infrastructure and not a viable long-term solution to protect Sunset Cliffs,” he said.
City officials declined to address concerns raised by residents, instead touting what they called the benefits of the plan — protecting habitat, enhancing coastal access and boosting recreation opportunities.
In a last-minute move, city officials adjusted the plan’s four priority projects to replace one in Mission Beach with the project at Tourmaline, which is on the border between Pacific Beach and La Jolla. The project at Mission Beach now joins a proposal at La Jolla Shores as one of the only two projects in the plan that are not on the fast track for approval — which means they also have no dedicated funding streams. The Mission Beach project was pulled off the fast track because city lifeguards recently raised concerns that it might restrict lifeguard vehicles by narrowing the beach and some key pathways.
Next steps include technical and feasibility studies, additional environmental analysis, and continued community engagement, including focused workshops in each community where projects are proposed. More than a dozen environmental organizations sent the city a joint letter this month endorsing the new plan, which was funded by both federal and state grants.
Everything’s gonna be okay according to Joe LaCava. “This is about resiliency and making sure we protect our natural recreation areas and our investments in public infrastructure and private property,” said Councilmember Joe LaCava, who represents La Jolla and Pacific Beach. “What we had yesterday won’t be there tomorrow unless we take action today.”
Councilmember Stephen Whitburn said the city’s 17 miles of coastline are what make San Diego special and city officials must address sea-level rise to protect them. “They face real threats from flooding and erosion that are only expected to worsen in the years ahead,” he said. “This plan sets our coastline up for long-term success.”
David Garrick at the U-T explained:
The Coastal Resilience Master Plan is part of a wider strategic effort called Climate Resilient SD, a collection of 86 strategies the city adopted in 2021 to prepare neighborhoods — particularly low-income areas — for climate change. Climate Resilient SD differs from the city’s climate action plan by focusing on adapting to climate change, while the action plan focuses on mitigating climate change itself with efforts like reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
To recap the plan for OB:
The city is proposing two projects in Ocean Beach, one at the pier and one at Dog Beach. The city would create a path for cyclists and pedestrians at Dog Beach that would be fronted by elevated sand dunes that could provide flood protection to the immediate area and the rest of the neighborhood. The dunes would be connected to an additional vegetated sand dune near the pier.
Here’s more from Garrick:
While the grant funding the city has received will only cover the four fast-track projects, chief climate resilience officer Julia Chase noted that recently approved California Proposition 4 provides $10 billion for climate projects.
The city’s plan estimates that sea levels will rise about 1 foot by 2050 and by somewhere between 3 feet and 7 feet by 2100. And it says that by 2050, an estimated $150 million to $230 million of city-owned assets and about $260 million in other assets could be at risk unless the city takes action. Under the worst sea-level-rise scenario, more than 2,600 businesses and about $8 billion in sales would be vulnerable to flooding countywide, the plan says.
News sources:
I should be amazed that such a sweeping, complicated plan was not subject to any community review or input, but I’m not because it does not surprise me. I think they all looked at it as an easy hit because nothing is definite and there is no money for any of it. So, let’s all show we are all for “addressing” sea level rise. Sure, why not.
One thing I oppose, besides the idiotic dune idea, is artificially armoring the bluffs. In both cases, the ocean will have the last say.
Resiliency is the new magic word. In fact, some items are budgeted items. I submitted comments comparing the Resiliency Plan to Budget items. But oh, well…