Peninsulans Are Divided Over Proposed ‘Improvements’ to Sunset Cliffs

With the San Diego City Council voting Sept. 9 on proposed improvements to Sunset Cliffs, the boulevard and the area, to save it from sea-level rise and ongoing erosion, you can bet that Peninsula residents are divided over the proposals coming out of the Coastal Resilience Master Plan. [Here’s the City’s Coastal Resiliency Masterplan]

One of the more controversial proposals is the one that wants to re-configure Sunset Cliffs Boulevard from a two-lane, north-south major collector road to a single southbound lane. One recent Rag reader rant felt it was premature to make Sunset Cliffs Blvd into one-way. There’s been other issues and questions. (See the many and diverse comments to Rag posts on the Cliffs.)

When the Plan was first rolled out, one Rag writer felt the ‘OB Presentation akin to Keystone Cops’ and another questioned, “Where is the Masterplan Board Hiding?”

Two of the more important community planning groups in the Peninsula are divided. The Ocean Beach Community Planning Group voted in favor of the plan, said Andrea Schlageter, who chairs that board. Schlageter said, in her own opinion, the plans for the one-way street add much needed room for recreation where there is no dedicated lane for pedestrians. “It’ll take the pressure off the cliff,” Schlageter said. “Whether we make it a one-way street now or let it erode into the ocean, it’ll be a one-way street eventually.”

The Peninsula Community Planning Board, on the other hand, sent a letter on Aug. 21 to District 2 Councilmember Jennifer Campbell and her council colleagues that stated their Board “strongly opposes the Sunset Cliffs proposed natural-based solution or bluff retreat that proposes to reconfigure Sunset Cliffs Boulevard from a two-lane, north-south major collector road to a single southbound lane.” The letter added that redirecting traffic through local residential streets is “not a viable solution for the community.”

Eric Law, chair of the Peninsula Community Planning Board, stated that their group is not pleased about the amount of input they’ve had on the plans. Law said residents are worried about the one-way road that would “dump” all that traffic to surrounding neighborhood streets. And, the board is concerned that there seems to be no effort to protect the cliffs from crumbling with sea walls or other hard infrastructure. “They’ve gone completely nature-based solutions which is another way to say, ‘do nothing,’” Law said. The letter also stated:

“We respectfully request that the city initiate a new CIP project that integrates both nature-based solutions and engineered infrastructure to protect public rights-of-way, stabilize the cliffs, and preserve the two-lane configuration of Sunset Cliffs Boulevard.”

The Board’s letter also stated that despite multiple requests for a community stakeholder meeting and engagement with the Point Loma community, their requests had been ignored or denied.

Fred Kosmo, immediate past president of the PCPB board, echoed Law’s statements. Kosmo said:

“A Coastal Resilience Plan sounds like a good idea. We care about the coast and certainly Sunset Cliffs Natural Park.

“However, I am concerned that the city is refusing to take the concerns of residents into account. We have invited the city multiple times to present the plan and answer questions at a PCPB meeting. The city has repeatedly refused to present the plan and is avoiding local input. That is very troubling.”

The Times of San Diego reached out to a few residents of the Peninsula to see if they believed the Sunset Cliffs Boulevard realignment proposal to be a good idea. [You can read their thoughts here.]