Okay, good morning everyone. We're so happy to be here in Oceanside and looking
forward to a great hearing this month. I'll call this meeting to order and
we'll begin with a roll call please, Chris. All right, good morning.
Commissioner Escalante? Here. Vice Chair Hart? Here. Commissioner Jackson? Present.
Commissioner Lee. Here. Commissioner Lopez. Here. Commissioner Kalmick. Here.
Commissioner Smith. Present. Commissioner Presiado. Here. Commissioner Wilson.
Right there. Present. The problem is they don't have a loop. Commissioner Brownfield, or Commissioner
Commissioner not cool here Commissioner Williams here and chair Harmon we have
a quorum great thank you very much now hi I will move to the virtual meeting
procedures good morning this commission this Coastal Commission meeting is
occurring both in person and through zoom this meeting is also being webcast
and can be viewed online at Cal dash span org if you have internet access and wish
to watch or listen to the meeting only and not speak on an item we recommend
you use CalSPAN website. For those who wish to address the Commission today can
do so in person through the Zoom platform or by phone. The speaker request
form may be found on the Commission's webpage, paper forms, and a scannable QR
code for paperless submittals are available on the Commission staff table
just outside the meeting room. For those on Zoom we have posted virtual hearing
procedures on the Commission's agenda webpage which is a guide on providing
comments via Zoom or by phone. Members of the public speaking during general
public comments may be given up to two minutes to speak at the discretion of
the chair. Request to speak during the general public comment period will not
be accepted after 9 a.m. on each day of the meeting. In order to provide the
opportunity for the broadest range of public participation,
you may speak on a specific topic one time only each month.
For those speaking on an agenda item that is not general public comments,
are typically allowed two to three minutes
to speak at the discretion of the chair.
We will accept a request to speak on a regular agenda item
up until the chair opens the hearing on that particular item.
If you have Internet access,
please go to the commission web page and click on the link to fill out a speaker request.
If you do not have internet access or prefer to testify by phone, please call the commission
staff at 562-477-9089.
Again that number is 562-477-9089.
will provide you with a telephone call and number and instructions for how to participate
and provide testimony by phone.
We will manage speakers coming in and out of the meeting through a meeting organizer.
When it is your time to address the commission, the organizer will invite you to turn on your
video and microphone or provide instructions on how to unmute the phone.
Madam Chair, that concludes the virtual hearing procedures.
Great.
Thank you very much.
Now we will move to agenda changes please, Mr. Clerkwell.
Thank you, Chair Harmon.
We have seven changes to today's agenda, all of which are noted on the agenda changes memo
posted to the online agenda.
First, item 13A has been moved to consent for a Humboldt County LCP amendment time extension.
Next item 13B has been moved to consent for a Humboldt County LCP amendment on residential
development and commercial zones, fences and mini storage.
Next item excuse me 14a has post has been postponed for a Caltrans CDP application in
Humboldt County next item 16b has been moved to consent for a CDP application in Newport
Beach for a concrete seawall.
Next item 16c has been moved to consent for another CDP application in Newport Beach.
Next item 17a has been moved to consent for City of Huntington Beach LCP amendment time
extension and last item 17 B has been postponed for City of Laguna Beach
LCP amendment for 80 use that concludes the changes to today's agenda so that
brings us to item four general public comment thank you very much all right
Chris I will turn to you or Simone excuse me okay general public comment
procedures for members of the public I will be announcing the names of the
upcoming speakers and invite you to speak when is your turn each speaker will
be allowed two minutes during the general public comments at the
discretion of the chair. In order to allow for live video
testimony on Zoom, we will be bringing you in as panelists. As
we bring you in, your Zoom will reload. This may take a moment
to speed up the process. We will be bringing, bringing several
people in at a time, but please remain muted and keep your video
off until we ask you to speak. After your time is up, you will
be moved back to attendee mode. For members of the public present in the
room I will call your names in the order that they appear on our sign-up list. When
you hear your names please line up behind the podium and introduce yourself
when you approach to speak. There is a raise hand function that will help us
find you in the attendee list. If you are using a phone for audio you can raise
your hand by dialing star 9. If you are participating by zoom you should see a
button on your zoom screen. If you have signed up to speak for this item and are
able to do so please raise your hand now. When it is your time to speak we will
invite you to unmute and turn on your camera. You can unmute yourself on a phone
by dialing star six. First we have Mayor Esther Sanchez then Jonathan Berengo.
You could just press the button on the microphone there. Thank you Madam Chair,
honorable commissioners, also a staff, executive director. Welcome to
The Visit Oceanside asked me to drop off those recyclable bags to hopefully help you get
around Oceanside.
So I'm here to welcome you to Oceanside and also to wish all of us really happy 50th anniversary.
So yes, hopefully the festivities this Saturday will be a really, really just happy event.
I'm here to also talk about a couple of things that are going to be coming from the City
of Ocean side onto your agenda sometime within the next year.
First of all is a topic that I'm sure you love, love to hate, I don't know, short term
vacation rentals.
We're in a special situation in that in our coastal zone we have included Latino neighborhoods
And this is really critical affordable housing areas for us.
And so what has happened is they have really invaded
into that, so we reacted in a way of banning them,
future banning short-term vacation rentals
east of Coast Highway, but definitely keeping them
in the coastal zone, in the coastal area.
Our boundaries go into inland,
and that's why that has been a problem.
A lot of families have been, were basically evicted
in order to have these short-term vacation rentals,
which impacted our critical supply
of housing for affordability.
So that's gonna be coming to you.
It is a balancing kind of a thing,
and you may even hear some people
during your meeting here.
The other one is a very critical project for us.
And I hope you're able to stop by and see it.
It's our pier.
The concrete part of the pier is 99 years old this year.
She was meant to live a whole hundred years,
so she has started to crumble.
We've been playing patch up for probably 20, 30 years.
And so it's a total replacement,
so it's a total take it out and put it back in.
Because of sea level rise,
we've had to make some adjustments.
I don't know when two minutes are up,
but I'm sure it's coming up.
But anyway, that is gonna be coming up.
It's very, very critical for our city.
It is a fishing pier.
It's protected by our local coastal plant.
And so visitors come, so many people.
It's iconic to the city of Oceanside.
So those two projects are coming up.
Again, welcome to Oceanside.
Thank you.
Jonathan Borrego, followed by Diane Wokey,
followed by Jennifer Christen.
Good morning.
I'm Jonathan Borrego, city manager
for the city of Oceanside.
And I just want to echo the mayor's comments.
and welcome you to Oceanside,
glad that you're able to spend some time here,
especially when we're having such beautiful weather,
and hope you make the most of your stay
and able to get out and look at everything
that Oceanside has to offer, especially in our coastal area.
I just wanted to kind of touch upon some of the projects
that the mayor mentioned as well,
and just kind of bring,
provide you with some quick updates here.
I know I only have two minutes.
So first of all,
I also want to mention the city's REBEACH project,
and as some of the commissioners may recall,
This truly is a one-of-a-kind coastal adaptation project
that we're taking forward here in Oceanside,
which involves the construction of two artificial headlands
and an artificial reef right off our coast here,
right off of Tyson Park.
And this project truly is innovative.
It is a concept that has been used
in other parts of the world.
To our knowledge, it's the first
that has been used probably in North America.
And that project continues to proceed nicely.
In large part thanks to the support that the Coastal Commission has provided with some
critical funding to allow us to get to where we're at.
It is a science-based project that will allow us to be much more effective in terms of coastal
adaptation and sediment management.
And we look forward to bringing this project forward in the very fair future.
In terms of where we're at, we're getting ready to release the EIR for public review
this month.
So that's an important milestone and we'll continue to actively pursue the permit, this
suite of permits that we're going to need to bring that project towards
fruition and we remain optimistic that we will find the funding to construct
this project as well when it comes time.
I just also wanted to touch on the mayor's comments about short-term rentals.
I know that's going to be coming to you before years end,
and we think that we did really bring a truly thoughtful balanced approach here.
We are unique in that we do have working-class neighborhoods in
coastal zone that were heavily impacted by the influx of short-term rentals and
we think that the program that we're proposing really strikes a really good
balance between protecting those housing resources and with that I'll wrap up
again just invite you to go take a look at the bridge as well if you get an
opportunity and as a point of clarification we are talking about the
concrete portion of the bridge that's at the base at Pacific Street not the
wooden portion that's the concrete portion is a portion that's a hundred
years old and in desperate need of replacement which we're well on the way in partnership
with the Coastal Commission on that as well.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Can I circulate?
Good morning Chair, Vice Chair, and Commissioners.
Diane Wolkey, Safe Healthy Plain Fields, a Beyond Plastics affiliate.
On September 30th, the 10th annual Copernicus Ocean State Report by more than 100 international
scientists was released finding that profound shifts in the state of our oceans is a clear
indicator of climate change. By continuing to add plastics to our coastal environment
rather than demanding nature-based alternatives, you are compounding the effects of climate
change. By supporting oil and gas industries, Plan B, which is increased plastic production.
Slide. Almost daily sightings of tropical birds, fish, sea animals and mammals off our
coast are reported, driven by climate change, caused in part again by overheating the world
with plastics and microplastics.
We must stop feeding both our native
and our tropical visitors a petrochemical plastic diet.
Slide. With environmental exposure,
plastic quickly develops microfractures
and splinters releasing plastic fragments to air, water, and soil.
You can see the difference in the sizes
between mesoplastics and microplastics.
Slide. Micro and nanoplastics cannot be swept up.
They are forever lost to air, water, and soil.
They enter our bodies through inhalation, ingestion,
and dermal absorption.
Every time you approve a petrochemical plastic product
for use in the coastal and local use permit zones,
you're supporting offshore drilling
and continuing the use of unnecessary petrochemical
plastics.
Your decisions have consequences for humans
and the environmental health and billions of dollars
in economic and social costs.
Slide.
While in Oceanside, take a tour of the petrochemical plastics in our city.
Visit the soon to disappear used tire crumb plastic playground just south of the pier.
There is another at Harbor Beach.
Stroll north on the strand to visit the resorts and rental properties with synthetic turf.
Walk through the beach communities to see yet more.
Or visit our historic mission and see the dying trees due to plastics.
Jackson I'd like to invite you over to Camp Pendleton to see the the mat there
the mat that I showed you last month that you said you have three in your
city that you sweep daily that's camp Pendleton join me for a tour thank you
Jennifer Creston followed by Peter Cass followed by Adam Laverne good morning
I'm Jennifer Creston I have a slide please he's called me slide there we go
After Newport Beach stakeholders spoke at your Friday, August 14th, 2026 meeting, Commissioner
Preciado posed some questions about what qualifies as public use of tie lands.
In Newport Beach, there's a granting statute which answers some of these questions, and
the statute provides, quote, that the city or its successors may grant franchisees thereon
for a period not exceeding 50 years for warps and other public uses and purposes and may
lease the lands or any part thereof for a period not exceeding 50 years for purposes
consistent with the trust upon which the lands are held by the state."
Recreational boating is generally consistent with the common law public
trust doctrine. City code provides that residential peer permits are granted in
10-year increments up to the 50 statutorily allowed.
In the past few years we've reviewed hundreds of leases the state lands
commission has approved for the recreational use of public lands at Lake
Tahoe, the Sacramento River, the Napa River, Catalina Island, Tamales Bay, etc.
They consistently reflect 10-year term lengths with predictable CPI-based fee increases.
Most mooring permit holders in Newport Beach are members of the public who pay rent for
their occupation of state lands.
They simply seek to be afforded equity in lengths and rates with other tied lands lessees.
Remarks of the executive officer of the State Lands Commission at your October 9, 2024 meeting
may offer additional clarity.
in part, in terms of charging for occupation, the mooring infrastructure does occupy tight
lands. We are a land management company. What that means is we act as a landlord slash tenant
type of situation. We have a physical infrastructure that's occupying state lands and state tight
lands, and the statewide public should be compensated for that occupation. In the leases
that we manage and issue, take for example the California side of Lake Tahoe, we have
about a thousand leases. Many of them, the vast majority, are individual peers and two
mooring buoys. We have different rates for the moorings versus the piers. In all honesty,
our mooring buoy rates are much lower than the residential pier rates, but it is for
the compensation of the occupation of state tie lands. Close quote. We hope these observations
help explain the permitted use of the waters. Thank you.
Good morning. I have a slide piece. Peter Cass. Two years ago this coming Friday, Jennifer
Loughacy, Executive Officer of the California State Land Commission, spoke before this Commission
in San Diego. Among other things she said, quote, I think what is really appalling in
this situation is that incredible discrepancy between the pier rates and the mooring rates.
I acknowledge that the amount of tight land that are being utilized by this private recreation
or residential pier and the vessels that are attached
to those piers is significantly larger than the mooring
and the boats associated with those moorings.
So there is some real definite inequality going on here.
Close quote.
I was in the room that day.
We had hoped that her words and remarks
from Coastal Commission and staff
meant that the appalling discrepancy
and real definite inequality that morning permit holders
have long been subjected to as Newport's lowest tier user
would soon be ending.
Here are the almost two years since state land
and coastal clearly recognized.
At least some of the long standing unfairness.
Offshore morning rates remain more than 235% higher.
permit transfer fees remain more than 485 higher.
We don't advocate that anyone's rate
need to increase drastically,
especially since the state land already regularly calculate
their fair market rate for Orange County.
The trouble to the city seems to be that fair rate risk
drawing too many outsider to the Newport.
As we think coastal well understands,
costs do impact access levels.
What further reduction in access will the city be allowed
to get away with as they stall for time?
Knowing that the passage of the time helps
to eliminate more people like us.
Thank you.
Adam Leveriz, followed by John Doe,
then Gary Walsh, then Lance Schultz.
Good morning, again, I love the small venues.
I can reach out and touch someone practically.
Peters, if you could go back to Peter's first slide,
I just wanted to point out the mooring rate currently
for a mooring permit is 1,670 per year.
This dock that I've pictured is about the same square feet
they say a mooring occupies.
If you'll notice on the dock, there's
three rather large boats and three dinghies or tenders.
And again, they're paying substantially less.
According to State Lands, our dock rates
may need to as much as double.
So that particular dock will go to a little over $1,400.
State Lands also says a mooring permit,
the rates just went up in July, can go to $9,691 a year.
Moorings are very challenging to use.
As was quoted from former executive officer
or Lucchese of state lands the rates are typically always lower.
And I very much appreciate Commissioner Presiado's observations
at that August meeting.
I hope you understand that these are members of the public
who are leasing state lands for what they call private exclusive use.
A boat on a mooring floats around like this.
People fish under the boats, kayak next to the boats,
hang onto the lines when they're drowning.
That they're different than docks.
They're more challenging to use, and it's kind of unfathomable
that state lands, and I'm sorry for the representative
from there, thinks that a mooring can cost
so much more than a dock.
And if you go to the next slide, the problem I really have,
the top of this is my mooring permit.
I've had it a little less than three years.
By statute, I'm allowed 50 years.
and yet I'm told that I have to lose my permit,
even though it's statutorily allowed
in a public trust consistent use because I'm paying rent
for that occupation of space.
And below that there's fees for a peer, the lower rate,
and also the transfer fee, $344.
A peer adds a million dollars of value at least to a home.
They pay 344.
My $30,000 boat and permit, I paid $1,200.
If it economically just does not make sense. Dr. Hucklebridge indicates we're waiting for the city to see what they're going to do. We can't wait. They're reducing access right now. Thank you.
I have a slight presentation. Good morning, commissioners. I'm John Dow with savor beaches, San Clemente.
My comments concern historical beach loss, public access,
and regional restoration.
And I reserve discussion of the San Clemente emergency permit
for agenda item 15.
This image shows South San Clemente's historical sandy
beach, room for families, surfers, and visitors
to walk, gather, and enjoy the coast.
That public resource deserves protection.
Next slide.
Compare that with today's armored shoreline.
For five years, residents have watched beaches disappear
and boulders accumulate.
Long-standing hazards have been met with reactive armoring
rather than coordinated restoration.
This is an institutional failure to act proactively,
collaboratively, and in the public interest.
And our beaches have become collateral damage.
Next slide.
Restoring a wide sandy beach protects recreation
and public access.
City and regional nourishment efforts need coordination
with OCTA contributing to the beach system
that protects its rail. Beach loss raises safety concerns for surfers and pedestrians
and threatens safe shoreline passage between San Clemente State Beach and San Onofre State
Beach. Next slide. Reventments occupy shoreline and worsen erosion. That's not AA generated.
That's actual picture. Resulting damage becomes justification for more rock. Commissioners
require coordinated restoration, account for cumulative damage and preserve public
access. And while here in Oceanside, please visit San Clemente just 20 miles
north. I would welcome the opportunity to show you firsthand the beach loss and
public access at risk. Seeing these conditions in person would bring home
what photographs and reports cannot. San Clemente's beaches belong in our
community's future, not just in photographs. Thank you.
Thank you. Next is Gary Walsh, Lance Schultz, Jody Jones, and Corey Breuer.
Hello. Gary Walsh, Save Our Beaches SC. Upon receiving your nomination and
confirmation for the Commissioner to be a commissioner on the California Coastal
Commission, I'm sure many of you envisioned yourselves as vanguards of
California's coastline, a frontline soldier to ensure that the natural
resources, our precious beaches and coast are preserved for all to enjoy.
And nothing is more basic in this endeavor than when a corporation makes it known that
they intend to eliminate beaches in the name of their mission.
Rather it be for drilling for oil, billionaires restricting access to the beach in front of
their property, private equity funds, buying and building a new beachfront hotel, or perhaps
government agency saying they're protecting infrastructure. It's all the
same. It's the same loss to the beat the public in the use of that beach. It's a
very reason the Coastal Act was created to ensure that all their money, all their
influence, their PR teams, and their empty reassurances cannot sway you from
that covenant that you have with the citizens of this state. That is
protecting our coast. Remember your ethos when these well rehearsed slick snake oil
presentations come before you. You are the last line of defense. I grew up catching grunyun
on our beaches in the dark of the night, enjoying bonfires and s'mores. I did the same with
my children and I'd like you to use that vision when deciding whether to grant Big Corp or
big gov a permit will families still be able to use these beaches thank you
Thank You Lance Schultz, Jody Jones, Cord Bauer, Joe Wilson, Amy Stewart, I apologize
I don't want to be here to tell you this but I think it's important I think it's
important. People for Ponto has been working since 2017 to find the facts,
disseminate the facts, communicate those facts to both the city of Carlsbad and
to the California Coastal Commission. In those nine years we have generated 20,000
citizen petitions directed to the Coastal Commission, addressed to the
Coastal Commission, addressed to the City Council, addressed to Coastal Commission
staff and city staff. We have looked at the correspondence and for the for an
item and we do not say excuse me sorry over here you're you're speaking you're
speaking about an item that's on the agenda tomorrow so you need to wait and
reserve your comments so sorry so my so my question is then absent of the
discussion of a particular example is what is the Coastal Commission's rules,
what is the Coastal Commission's principles and policies and moral
obligation to consider citizen comments that have been duly submitted and data
that has been documented with over 80 official public records requests. The
documented data that we have been trying to send to you is documented with over 80
public records requests. It has been thoroughly vetted and we are
disappointed that that communication, formal and specific, and I brought my
laptop to prove it. I've got my laptop to prove that that has not been transmitted
to you. This is an important issue. I leave that with you. I hope you can do
something about it. Thank you. I'm not as tall as Lance, I'll move that down. Hi
everybody, thank you for your time today. I'm speaking on my concern for how you,
the commissioners, receive public communication. The issues what you weigh
in on are incredibly important to our community, to the coastline, and the
future of all who come to enjoy the coast. I am part of a group that has
been in communication with the City Council, city staff,
Coastal Commission staff, and then directly to you,
the Coastal Commission since 2017,
all in an effort to increase common understanding,
transparency, and accountability around issues
that are impactful for all that come to the city.
But when we see the correspondence and documents data
provided for upcoming items, we see many, many, many
are missing.
The public input received virtually
should carry weight just like those
that can not just like those that can take the time off work.
Not everybody can be here in person,
but when they sign something virtually and they send an email,
that should carry just as much weight
because their voices are loud.
The public voice should be heard whether written
or spoken in person.
And I know the staff is trying their best.
I'm guessing they're overworked as we all are,
but I'm also hoping these oversights and missing details
were just an honest mistake versus a malicious attempt
to silence voices.
I'm here today to make sure you know
not all the facts are being seen,
but the ones that you do see have many, many, many
more voices behind them.
And they are just as important to be heard.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next is Cord Bauer, Joe Wilson, and then Amy Stewart.
And then after that, we'll be going to our Zoom.
And then we have about 11 speakers.
Good morning.
I'm Cord Bauer with the OCTA Citizens Advisory Committee
for San Clemente.
When you visit Hawaii's black sand beaches it's not hard to realize that lava was pulverized into small pieces to make the beaches.
In the Bahamas vast amounts of shells and coral were ground up over time to make the famous pink sand beaches.
In San Clemente our beach is made of dirt.
When it rains dirt is carried by the streams and culverts to the ocean where the organics and silt are separated from the sand.
What's left is deposited on our beaches and is bleached by the Sun and salt water to make beautiful sand in exactly the right size
for our wave actions
This has happened for millennia
About 135 years ago train tracks were laid down in San Clemente preventing some of the sand from getting to the ocean and
then Dana Point Harbor came and then concreting sides of San Juan Creek and
then trampus graywater dam off Ortega and asphalt streets and culverts and sewers and water treatment plants and all of what we call
urbanization. It has all reduced the sand that flows to the ocean.
I will add that for over 30 years past California Coastal Commissions have worked to keep
trash, debris, pesticides, and even human waste out of water that exits to the ocean.
everyone agrees this is important and yet an unintended consequence of these action
is also less sand at our beaches and here's the point of the speech because all these changes
we will never have enough natural sand to replenish our beaches ever again. It's the
lifeblood of our town. Please consider that actions the Coastal Commission monitors but
but San Clemente has no control over,
have taken the sand away from our beaches.
Thank you.
Joe Wilson, Amy Stewart,
and then we'll go to our Zoom panelists.
Zoom, go ahead and use your raised hand function.
If you're by phone, please use star nine.
Good morning, everyone.
If you could please recall back a few minutes
to John Dow's pictures of the South San Clemente Beach
and the water overtopping the rocks
that sets the stage for what I'm about to say.
You're well aware of the eradication of the beach
in San Clemente due to revetment, hard armoring,
but you may not know that surfers
at the long time popular surf break cottons
in front of the Nixon estate are now
at severe risk because of it.
Surfers can usually safely enter and exit the water
just south of the point, again picture that picture.
But during a swell and current like we've had recently,
it's impossible to get out of the water
just north of there if you lose your board.
You could easily die on the boulders trying.
And I'm being serious.
It's life-threatening.
One young surfer who lost his board recently
needed to be assisted for a very long swim
to a small patch of sand hundreds of yards north
at the end of the expanded revetment.
Otherwise, you probably know that the once beautiful beach
walk around that point, cottons, is obviously now impassable.
But out of town beach walkers, such as those camping at the State Park campground just
north of there, strolling south of the park at low tide may perceive that it's safe to
walk around that point on a tiny strip of sand that remains there.
However, if a set of large waves rolls in, they're washed right up on the rocks with
no way out.
And once again, picture that shot that John showed of the overtopping of the rocks.
the location I'm talking about. The leadership and citizens of San Clemente
have been crying foul for years. It's finally time for you, the Coastal
Commission, to step up and stop the destruction and truly life-threatening
danger that results there. Thank you for taking this seriously, I appreciate it.
Amy Stewart followed by Reverend Jonathan Mitchell and Estetia Comarovsk, sorry if
I say the names wrong. Maria Cortez.
Good morning commissioners. I am Coronado Council member Amy
Stewart. As you know the governor declared an emergency as Super El Nino
threatens our coastal cities. For decades we in Coronado have been dealing
with one of the biggest, longest lasting environmental catastrophes, the cross
border sewage crisis. A crisis for which the governor has not declared an
emergency. As the second most impacted city, Coronado's beaches have been
closed over 75% of the time since January 1st this year. San Diego County
tests ocean water in three locations within our city limits using DDPCR.
Beyond its purely environmental impact, the sewage crisis severely impacts
access to our beaches, to our beaches. In the past, middle and high school students
surf clubs, surf the waves on our beaches. Now access to the ocean is significantly
denied and the clubs are almost non existent. Local businesses are increasingly suffering
as fewer people are coming to Coronado to enjoy summer at the beaches. Home to half
of U.S. special naval special warfare, SEAL commands, Coronado is also the sole venue
for Bud's training.
The latter has been forced to move much of its training
to San Diego Bay or San Clemente,
significantly impacting training,
ultimately military readiness.
And it's not just the SEALs who are impacted,
all the services and our lifeguards.
Flesh-eating disease, eye and ear
and gastrointestinal illnesses are increasingly common
among Bud's trainees and our servers.
Compounding sewage-related problems are heavy metals
and other detritus from the Tijuana's unregulated industry.
The stress on our oceanfront community is palatable.
We are beaten down, frustrated, and angry.
Coronado welcomes the opportunity
to work more closely with you,
the commission committed to protecting
and enhancing California's coast and ocean
for the present and future generations.
I'm here today to ask you for your help.
Thank you.
Thank you, next is Jonathan Mitchell,
followed by Anastasia Kamarov,
followed by Maria Cortez and Liliana Hernandez.
Reverend Jonathan Mitchell.
Good morning, commissioners.
My name is Reverend Jonathan Mitchell.
I am pastor emeritus of the Garden Church of San Pedro
and active in the ministry of St. Luke's Episcopal Church
in Long Beach.
For 20 years, I've lived a mile up the hill
from Donteau Beach, Pierre.
I'm here today in support of stronger short-term
rental regulations throughout the California coast.
As we all know, California is in a housing crisis.
People are getting evicted every day
because of high housing costs
and many ultimately end up on the street.
Coastal residents are being disproportionately impacted
because housing supply is limited.
My church has had a multi-service editing morning program
for our unhoused neighbors for decades.
has been considered an essential service in Long Beach,
so it was allowed to stay open even during the pandemic.
I have witnessed firsthand
how dehumanizing homelessness truly is,
so I feel strongly that we need to,
as a society, to think in terms of prevention
and do everything we can to keep people in their homes.
We cannot stop the slide into homelessness
by weakening short-term rental regulations.
Even if we build more housing,
it is often snapped up by corporations
and used for tourist accommodation.
While tourism is an important industry
and we want everyone to be able to enjoy our beaches
and coastline, we cannot in good conscience
let that be at the expense of permanent residents
of our coastal communities.
Our cities need to be able to do everything in their power
to help keep housing costs down.
And as a member of Trudy and lady United
for Economic Justice, I urge the coastal commission
to be an ally in that process.
I urge you to stop letting short-term rental companies
steal our housing and increase our rents
due to lack of housing supply.
When a city is facing a housing crisis,
as many of our cities are,
I urge you to support this process, thank you.
Thank you.
Next is Anastasia Kamaroff, Maria Cortez, Liliana Hernandez, and then Brian O'Flynn.
Go ahead and use your raise hand function, please on Zoom.
Anastasia, I see you on, if you can unmute yourself.
Okay, we're going to go ahead and move on to Maria Cortez.
been promoted to panelists you should be able to unmute.
in uh ciudad de california a mementando los costo de la vivienda y despla samiento a lo
residentes como yo. Permitir que se ectienda por toda las sonas costera espulsa a lo residentes a cambios
de costosos archiles de lupo a corto flazo que cirben a los trabajadores a una clientella rica
mi entrastanto a los trabajadores como yo son enfucados a cada bes mallejos de nuestras
comunidades. Estas housticia para las comunidades, costeras, lo residentes y a lo e es pro, de
sáquino uno, pro, profundamente dainino para los trabajadores y visitantes. ¿Qué tiene en menos
thank you thank you pause for a second and maybe ask if
Commissioner present I would offer to do some translation we weren't aware that
we'd have Spanish speakers so our normal process wasn't in place but he's kindly
offered. Her name is Maria Cortes. She is with Unite Here. She's worked along the
coast in the cities of Santa Ana and Santa Monica for over 30 years. She's
concerned about the growing number of short-term rentals. She is concerned as a
as a worker about access to the coast and being able to live near where she
works, her challenges are associated with the lack of housing, the lack of affordable housing,
and the impacts these short-term rentals leave on communities where people like her
that are workers within the tourism industry are impacted and are not allowed to live in the
the community they work in. As such, they have to commute and causing further impact.
I think I did my best to capture the two minutes of comments, and gracias en acortez por testimonio.
Thank you. Next is Liliana Hernandez, followed by Brian O'Flynn, followed by Che Lee Hilkama.
Leana Hernandez.
Good morning commissioners.
My name is Leana Hernandez.
I'm member of United Local 11.
I like to speak to why it is important
to have a strong short-term rental regulations
in the coastal zone.
The commission has for a long time
say that this decision is we can shorten rental ordinance
in the coastal zone where based on the need
to prioritize low cost also on access.
But the true is the unhosted STRs are extremely expensive.
In Santa Monica, they regularly go for more than 550ri,
while your host STRs are in the 240ri range.
It's still expensive, but significantly less so.
The more you allow unhosted STRs to split with our knowledge of the reality of how much they cost.
The more you are letting big corporations, speculators, profit at the expense of working class people,
both residents and visitors to the cost,
a strong regulation that promotes hosted STRs,
helps protect housing units and community charity,
and provides a true lower cost short-term rental option
than unhosted short-term rentals.
Prioritizing hosted STRs are very expensive.
Unhosted STRs fulfills the commission's obligations
to provide affordable coastal access.
While you're also keeping a scarce housing
from being taken away from coastal residents.
The Coastal Commission should balance these priorities
by promoting, hosted on the regulation to help people
access the cost and residents' state in their homes.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Nexus, Brian O'Flynn, Chaylee Hilkama,
Kariko Mi, Shiro, and Cynthia Gomez.
Good morning, Chair and Commissioners.
My name is Brian O'Flynn.
I own and operate three short-term rental properties
in Pacifica's coastal zone,
and I'm speaking to oppose the executive director's
determination on Pacifica's LCP amendment.
Yesterday, before 5 p.m., Dean Jones, Carlos Carbajal,
and I submitted a written objection to this determination
it is here. Because of its
timing. It is not in your
packet. I asked it to be
included in the administrative
record along with earlier
submittals. It incorporates,
and I urge each of you to read
it. The letter raises three
points. First the 120 night cap
has no analysis behind it. The
city proposed 60 nights. Your
staff recommended no cap at all.
Finding that a night cap is
inconsistent with the land use
plans policies on maximizing
in 2024 that Pacifica's short-term rentals offer a more affordable option for families
in larger groups. The figure of 120 came up during the deliberations on August 12 meeting
and passed 6-4. Nothing on the record explains why 120 is consistent with the LUP when 60
was not. Second, supply is already shrinking. Pacifica is down to about 75 short-term rentals,
the 150 permit cap this commission found appropriate in 2024. Only 41 remain in the coastal zone
where they're most needed. Third, there is no transition. Existing lawful rentals become
subject to these rules at their October renewal within weeks of today. By my count, the coastal
zone rentals about two-thirds are in multi-unit buildings and will lose their permits at renewal,
leaving few to serve public access to the coast. In 2024, this commission approved the 150 permit
cap because existing rentals could keep operating. I respectfully ask that you decline to concur today
or continue this item and direct staff to prepare findings addressing these points.
At a minimum, please add a reasonable transition for existing permits. Thank you.
Thank you. Next is Chaylee Ilkimo, followed by Karikimo Shiro, followed by Cynthia Gomez.
Chaylee? I'm here, but for some reason I'm unable to start my video. I'm clicking on it. Okay, we see.
Okay, thank you. Just start. Good morning, commissioners, Chair Harmon. I met my husband,
George, in 1998. He's a morning permit holder who moored his vote in Newport Harbor for 40 years,
and he's been a board member of the Newport Moring Association for 35 years.
George worked hard to realize his dream of boat ownership like so many other boaters
who have become our friends, so moring matters matter to us.
Also in 1998, the NMA board members did a price comparison of moring fees
charged for a 40-foot boat at Pacific Coast Cities,
and they found that our rates were 79% above the average fee.
They also found that within Newport Harbor, we paid 10 times the rate
of those with commercial peer permits
and even greater rate disparity between those
with residential peer permits.
We paid a flat fee of $70 per year,
while those with 40 foot moorings paid $800 per year.
The city of Newport Beach has inflicted injustices
on mooring permit holders for decades.
Currently it seeks to raise only our mooring fees
three to 500%, though we already pay more than like users.
This outrageous fee increase will end mooring security
jeopardize public boater access. The city's efforts to further commodify and gentrify the public
tide lands while it ignores its own local coastal program commitment to provide moorings as an
important source of low-cost public access to the water and harbor is contrary to the coastal
California Coastal Act which states quote recreational boating use of coastal water shall
be encouraged. The city's bias is clear but its intentions aren't transparent. It didn't
obtain a concurrent appraisal of different recreational voting uses. So there's been no
common valuation framework established that could be used to determine legitimate differences
that justify different rates. In an effort to promote Thailand's user equity and protect
access for all permitted recreational boaters in Newport Harbor, I request that this commission
do what it can to compel the Newport Beach to adopt the use of State Lands Category 1 benchmark
rate for recreational docs, piers, and mooring buoys. Thank you and thank you for your good work.
Thank you, Karikomi, Shiro, Cynthia Gomez, Lupe Stevenson. Karikomi, go ahead and speak.
Morning commissioners, my name is Shiro Karikomi. I live in Santa Monica and these people in these
coastal cities don't want people to you know not come and enjoy the same city that they live in.
It's just we want more more standardized and stronger um what's the word regulations on these
short-term rentals um you know a lot of these rentals uh they don't allow for more affordable
housing so that these coastal workers, you know, the ones that live in hospitality, restaurants,
lifeguards, just everyone that's able to make these cities, the great coastal cities that they are,
a lot of them can't afford to live here. A lot of the ones, a lot of the workers here
come from neighboring cities just because they can't afford to work here. And, you know, it has
has been negatively impacting a lot of us for a while.
I forgot what else I wanted to say,
but thank you so much for your time.
You guys have a good day.
Thank you, you too.
Next is Cynthia Gomez followed by Lupe Stevenson.
We don't see Lupe Stevenson,
but we do see a Maria Stevens.
So if that's you, please use the raise hand function.
The other three we don't see on Zoom.
Hopefully you'll get back on.
Lois McNichols, Martin, and Anastasia Comorovsk.
Cynthia Gomez, go ahead.
Hello, good morning.
Good morning, commissioners.
I apologize, my voice is scratchy, I have a cold.
So my name is Cynthia Gomez.
I'm a research analyst at Unite here Local 2,
and we represent hundreds of workers who live in cities
such as Hatman Bay, Pacifica, other coastal zone cities.
And in future meetings, you're gonna continue
to see short-term rental regulations.
I want to speak to why it's important to have
stronger short-term rental regulations in the coastal zone.
So we've seen up and down the coast.
We heard about it just this morning from Oceanside.
Homes that used to house entire families
being snapped up by investors
and converted into short-term rentals for profit.
We have people that are being pushed out
of their coastal communities
because of speculators trying to make a quick buck
with expensive and unaffordable STRs.
And in previous meetings,
you've heard stories of people being surrounded
all sides by short-term rentals where they used to have neighbors. You've heard about school
districts running out of funds because it's impossible for families to live in their city.
You've heard stories of workers who are having to move out of town due to those high housing costs
that are fueled by short-term rental speculation. And so that's not only robbing working class
families of their access to the coast, but it's robbing the coast of the very people who provide
visitor facing services. So it's a double whammy.
Torture rental regulations that are stronger are going to help prevent this kind of displacement
and keep the community character of these coastal cities while also increasing access to the coast.
I know the commission has repeatedly said and told the legislators that it's an ally in the state's
housing crisis, but it's not acting like an ally to stop coastal cities from addressing their housing
crisis. Housing hosted only regulation is the best tool that cities have to deal
with this crisis and so when this comes up again I urge you to help cities
actually enact it so they can strike an appropriate balance for coastal
residents and help keep communities from being displaced. Thank you. Thank you. Next
is Lupe Stevenson or Maria Stevenson and then we have three more speakers that we
cannot find so she will most likely be our last speaker if we don't find the
other three. Hi. Good morning. My name is is Maria. What I do is
do something, but it's too long. That's what I use. I'm a
Steven's on his short name. Um, um, um, um, working at the
Furman Miramar Hotel, living in Saramonica, and is sad to see,
um, people moving out because they don't kind of job. They're
losing hours for the short terms occupancy,
there's been in the city.
So we're losing jobs, we're losing hours.
Kids, they cannot move out.
They're still living when the family is like my kids,
when my coworkers' kids too.
So hoping this situation can change for the best
for all these poor people, they're losing jobs
and losing hours.
So hoping everything can change for the good and strong aspies.
And that's all I can say.
Thank you.
Have a nice day.
And I met you, Kenny.
OK, that completes our general public comment.
Great.
Thank you very much.
And thank you to the public for your testimony.
I'll return to the commission for comments or questions.
Commissioner Jackson.
Commissioner Presiata.
So it is clear that short term Reynolds is going to continue to be a part of our discussions as we move forward.
And notwithstanding the opportunity for the state of California to offer legislation that basically creates some conformity.
I'm just wondering if we could react in general that we are using a community by community
approach to support short-term rental management and that our recent record may demonstrate
that we have a community by community approach versus a all one size fits all.
The reality also may be that if legislation occurs,
this kind of discretion will no longer be available to us.
And I'm not valuing whether that's appropriate or not,
but I am trying to value personal private property rights
compared to or versus some of the other social aspects
of housing on the coast.
and the completion of about seven or eight or nine issues
with short-term rentals.
I'm just wondering if you could react to that.
Thank you.
Commissioner Prestiato, I think you did a good job
of reacting and capturing the fact that we are indeed
taking a community-by-community approach
because we don't think there is a one-size-fits-all solution
to short-term rentals.
So we've done it differently in different communities
up and down the coast.
but acknowledging there are a lot of issues
that are pulled into this.
It's complicated, it's very personal for many folks
and we recognize that and we try to pull in that information
and understand what each community,
what the housing situation is
and what the visitor serving uses
and overnight accommodation situation is
and put that all into an analysis.
That's how we've approached it.
But just acknowledging that there's,
It is a very important and personal issue for many
and there's still a lot of controversy
about what the right path is.
I'm in a lot of disagreement, even within communities,
about how to approach this issue.
So as you pointed out, we are trying to do our best
and look at it community by community.
Madam Chair, I have one more observation.
I think many of us have been observing the dramatic changes
that are occurring on our coastline
with just, we'll call them mini storms in the context of El Nino and what it
pretends to, or how it pretends to impact our our coastline in the in the
coming months. I've received input, feedback, I've seen how sometimes our
policies work really well, and sometimes our policies are maybe not ready for what
nature is going to show us it can do. And so in that context I'm just wondering
how we share with the community that sometimes even protecting our beaches
may have gotten away from us, given that the challenge we're facing is beyond some of these
technical matters.
In that context, I just want to identify that the railroad that follows the coastline from
San Diego all the way up to L.A. and maybe all the way up the western coastline has
value and it may need for the federal government to intervene as to what it values, the availability
of these railroads, juxtaposed with the need to preserve a coastline with the quality of
life indicators that our residents value. I will tell you that in my community, those
companies that ship enormous amounts of vehicles up and down the coast, probably in the middle
of the night when most people aren't watching that kind of railroad use, will probably say
they won't be able to be in commerce. And you can imagine the spillover. So I'm just
I was wondering what would be our positionality over time,
rather than minimizing or not appearing not to value input
like today from the community of San Clemente,
and weighing that against the big, to quote them,
the big public agency or agencies, profit or nonprofit,
that operate the railroad lines.
And just thinking of my friends in Del Mar,
who their questions are in the billions of dollars.
And it's just for one, about two miles of line.
I wonder what it would be to think
about the entire coastline.
Thank you.
Through the chair, I actually do have something of a report
out on some of the El Nino actions
that we've been taking, just generally speaking,
during my ED report.
So I can cover it there.
then just to note just specifically on railroad related issues this is an
issue that will be coming for you before you soon we are you know endeavoring to
bring items potentially next month for your consideration there's some report
out this today of emergency permits so this is this is it's an important
conversation that you raise Commissioner Press the add-on one that you will be
having a minute Lee Commissioner Jackson thank you madam chair thank you to all
the speakers this morning and thank you for your comment Commissioner Preciado about Sacramento
because you know when we're talking about Sacramento and their short-term rental legislation
the legislation has been designed to benefit the billionaires the billionaires who are benefiting
off the backs of residents and municipalities that have to deal with the fallout of these
unregulated and unbridled short-term rentals, you know, it's it's it's these
misguided policies that are hurting us and we are gonna continue to have these
conversations Sacramento I think at some point is gonna have to do the right
thing and take a hard look at this and put some guardrails on these thousands
of platforms that are taking advantage of these municipalities and using the
coastal act as a wedge to to sort of get what they want and as much as they
want so no real point to that except a bit of event. I also want to thank
Councilmember Stewart for speaking this morning and reminding us about the
serious water quality issues and public health crisis impacting Imperial Beach
and the surrounding communities. We know that Governor Newsom recently declared a
state of emergency to prepare for El Nino and the threats of
flooding and erosion. He also declared a state of emergency in
Lake County following a major sewage spill there. So, you
know, there's frustration, why not Imperial Beach, you know,
and Coronado and all the areas that are impacted? We also
understand a state of emergency won't solve this crisis, but it
can cut red tape, it can mobilize some state resources,
strengthen the push of federal assistance, understanding that's been some pusher ready,
and bring the urgency that a public health crisis of this magnitude deserves.
I can't think of a greater public health crisis facing the state, let alone the country.
This is more than a water quality problem.
It's a health crisis.
Families deserve clean water, clean air, and safe beaches.
And I think it's heartening that the two candidates seeking to become the California's next governor
have committed both to declaring an emergency
if and when elected.
But I think it's somewhat shameful
that Imperial Beach has to wait for the next governor
because Imperial Beach and the communities
impacted by this crisis deserve better.
And I think it's shameful that we're still having
these conversations so many years after.
Thank you, Madam Chair.
Thank you.
Vice Chair Hart.
Thanks.
I just have a question about the Newport Beach situation
That we hear and I really appreciate the time that the community is taken to always come to our meetings and comment
But it seems to me that an action has been taken by Newport Beach if in fact the these increases
Which I was unaware of I've gone through could you comment on that and how we're responding if at all to that
So I guess I I mean I my understanding is they're not there's they have not acted on
rate
increases as of yet. I don't believe. That's the information I have. So anything that was
presented today we'll have to look into and try to assess and then come back to you.
Thanks. Would a fee increase like that be considered a project under the Coastal Act
in your mind or is that something you're going to be evaluating?
Exactly. We need to evaluate it.
Thank you.
Okay. Seeing no further comments, we will close public comment. Thank you again to everyone
for your testimony. So we will continue on and I'll turn it over to Director Hucklebridge.
Thank you Madam Chair. Good morning commissioners. So as always my published report can be found on
the commission's website. It was posted a little bit late. I think it didn't get posted till just
this morning so my apologies for that. But as normal I will spend a few minutes going over
several of the items. So first I had the honor of accepting the Heal the Bay Community Partner
Award at their annual gala in Santa Monica on September 24th so the
Community Partner Award was presented to the Coastal Commission in recognition of
50 years of coastal protection on California's coast. I was joined at the
event by Commissioner Jamie Lee and Ann Nodoff and it was just an incredible
honor to accept this award on behalf of this Commission. I want to give a huge
huge shout out to heal the bay for recognizing the commission in this way for this award
and for the many years of partnership towards our shared goal of a clean, healthy, and vibrant
coast.
Next, I have two website updates to report out on.
We are pleased to announce the addition of a new page on our website that provides information
about the Coastal Commission's process for developing three or more categorical exclusion
orders for affordable housing projects pursuant to Senate Bill 484.
The webpage provides basic information about the Coastal Act and Senate Bill 484 as well
as maps of the coastal zones for the 12 jurisdictions under consideration consistent with the legislation.
Coastal Commission and HCD staff will consult with the relevant local governments and interested
stakeholders to inform them about the selection and implementation of these three categorical
exclusion orders.
the page is available at the link that's found in my,
you can find in my publish report.
Next, we are very proud to share that applicants
can now submit regular coastal development permit
applications online.
Through our updated coastal data management system,
the public portal, users can register for a free account,
enter their project description and information
and upload required documents.
This makes the application process more convenient and accessible, expanding the Commission's
digital services to provide a streamlined and user-friendly experience.
The new feature also supports efforts to improve processes and transparency by using digital
technologies to allow expanded access to the Commission's information and records.
This initial release supports regular CDP applications and we are working to expand
the system to allow other application types in the future.
can access the online application portal and find a helpful how-to guides at the link in my publish
report. So a quick thank you to Caltrans for serving as a guinea pig for this online CDP
process and an enormous thank you to Scott Collier, Robert Cook, Mandy Dillon, Caitlin
Carney, Vicki See, and Jessica Reed for their hard work to make the online CDP portal a reality.
Next, I have a couple of gatherings to report on.
On September 28 or 26, excuse me, I had the pleasure of participating on a panel titled
50 Years of Coastal Protection, the Coastal Act at 50, Climate Resilience, Public Access,
and Coastal Stewardship at the 10th Annual Environmental Leadership Summit in San Diego.
The panel was moderated by Dr. Todd Holmes, an oral historian with the Bancroft Library's
Oral History Center at UC Berkeley,
and the creator of the documentary
To Save Our Coast, Prop 20,
and the creation of the California Coastal Commission.
I was joined on the panel by Celia Solis,
Director of Operations at Azul, and Werner Chabot,
former Executive Director of the San Francisco
Estuary Institute, and Vice President
of the Ocean Conservancy,
and Coastal Activist extraordinaire.
We had a wide range of conversation about the battles
to pass Prop 20, notable Coastal Act achievements,
environmental justice on the coast,
historic coastal commission battles,
navigating shifting political landscapes
and what the next 50 years of coastal protection looks like.
A huge thank you to the Environmental Center of San Diego
for organizing such a fantastic event.
Next, the commission's public education unit
and tribal affairs program participated
in the 59th annual California Native American Day
in Sacramento on September 25th.
This year's theme was inherent sovereignty,
tribal nationals fighting to protect our land and defend our people, recognizing the enduring
responsibilities of tribal nations to their lands, cultures, and communities.
The day celebrated living cultures, affirmed tribal sovereignty, and educated the broader
public about California native history, resilience, and leadership.
Coastal staff showcased the commission's programs and connected with participants, including
a previous whale-tailed grantee who learned about the grant program from commission staff
at the 55th annual California Native American Day.
You can check out my published report
for some fabulous pictures, including a commissioner cameo.
But you'll have to look to see who it was.
Several commission staff attended the Restore America's
Estuaries Conference in San Francisco,
which took place September 22nd through 25th.
On the 23rd, Karen Vu from our statewide planning unit
was on a panel on partnering with communities
and presented the commission's inclusion
of environmental justice principles into its sea level rise policy guidance.
She highlighted the role of the environmental justice advisory group and the outreach and
engagement plan and shared both successes and lessons learned from the process.
Dr. Lauren Garsky Garcia from our ecology team sat on a panel that afternoon with fellow
regulators titled From Permits to Projects on Looking Faster Climate Adaptation in California
and presented how the commission is cutting green tape to facilitate implementation of
of critical restoration and adaptation projects.
While pointing to the Commission's many guidance resources
and reinforcing the importance of early coordination,
she provided examples of different permitting pathways
and featured the use of the public works plans
for expediting fire resilience work.
And lastly, I participated on a panel
with other Coastal Zone Management Program leaders
titled, What's Going On in the Western Coastal Zone
Management Resilience and Resilience and Engagement Projects?
We each presented a short video about the significant challenge each of our states faced in creating regional shoreline resilience, and then spent the balance of time discussing how to tackle community-wide planning, incentivizing nature-based resilience solutions, and balancing private property rights with public access to the coast.
Karen Vu from our statewide planning unit was also invited to speak at the Floodplain Management Association's annual conference in Long Beach on September 10th.
She was included on a panel with state agency leadership in funding and enabling nature-based
solutions along with representatives from the Ocean Protection Council, State Coastal
Conservancy, and California Office of Emergency Services.
She presented the Commission's adopted nature-based adaptation strategies guidance including permitting
pathways and coastal considerations for nature-based solutions.
She also answered questions about coordination with Coastal Commission staff on projects
and how Coastal staff are coordinating with other agencies
to help encourage and improve permitting
for nature-based adaptation strategies.
Karen Vu, who had a very busy month,
along with Sydney Schmitter, also from statewide planning,
were also invited to speak
at CNRA's Nature-Based Solutions Summit,
focused on coasts on September 2nd in San Francisco.
Their panel on scaling up nature-based adaptation
also included representatives from SFEI,
Sustainability conservation and CDFW they presented the Commission's
Adopted nature based adaptation strategy guidance covering permitting pathways and coastal act considerations for nature-based solutions as well as future outreach on the guidance
And how nature-based adaptation strategies support the implementation of SB
272 requirements related to sea level rise planning and adaptation and local coastal programs
Next I would like to report out on the availability of a new report on the feasibility of WAVE and tidal
energy. So for the past two and a half years Commission energy and ocean
resources staff have participated in an interagency working group on wave and
tidal energy as part of processes initiated by SB 605 approved in October
of 2023. SB 605 directed the California energy commission in
consultation with appropriate state agencies including the Commission to
evaluate the feasibility of using wave and tidal energy as forms of clean
energy and to identify suitable sea space for offshore wave and tidal energy projects
in state and federal waters.
So far two reports have been published by the CEC, one focusing on an evaluation of
feasibility, costs and benefits, and another focused on sea space analysis for wave and
tidal energy.
The CEC's third and final work product for SB 605 is a report to the governor and legislature
and is now available for public comment through November 3, 2026.
The draft report contains a summary of the previous reports and outlines considerations
for the development of wave and tidal energy in California and can be accessed for review
at the link in my published report.
I have several announcements from our public education unit.
So multiple counties will be offering free, expired marine flare collection events in
partnership with CalRecycle, California Product Stewardship Council, California State Parks
and the Coastal Commission's California Boating, Clean, and Green program.
Alameda, Marin, San Mateo, and Santa Cruz counties will be on October 25th.
West Contra Costa County will be October 14th through October 24th.
And Orange County, Ventura County, and the Port of San Diego will be on October 24th.
Only expired marine flares from residents and boaters birthing their boats in the named
areas will be accepted. No marine flares from commercial craft or organizations will be
accepted during these events and proof of residency or eligibility is required. More
details can be found on our website. Saturday, September 19th was the 42nd annual California
Coastal Cleanup Day. This event was a huge success across the state as events took place in all 58
counties from the Sierra out to the coast. Reports continue to roll in from coordinators around the
state but as of now over 32,000 volunteers turned out and removed over 305 thousand pounds of trash
from California's creeks lakes and coast. It was another amazing day of service and for many it
was their first step into the larger world of coastal stewardship. One of the reasons why Coastal
Cleanup Day is such a huge success each year is because of the partnerships we build to implement
that program. Most of these partnerships are with non-profit organizations or local governments that
that enact the cleanup at a regional level,
but a few are larger partners
that lend significant support across the state.
One of those is Caltrans,
which has been a vital part of the cleanup program
for decades.
We work with both their maintenance
and stormwater divisions to activate volunteers,
host events, and promote the cleanup.
Caltrans annually dedicates well over 1 million
of staff and equipment time
to making the cleanup a success.
So I'd like to turn it over briefly to Ken Johansson
Caltrans to catch us up on their larger efforts to mitigate pollution in storm
water across the entire state. So hopefully we have Ken Johansson on the
line and we can bring him in. Thank you. Ken is moving in right now. Thank you
Dr. Hucklebridge. Good morning Madam Chair and the members of the
Commission. I'm Ken Johansson and on behalf of Caltrans I'll be providing you
update on Caltrans efforts to protect coastal resources from trash and other pollutants
generated from the state highway system. I'm just waiting for the presentation to show up here.
I don't think this is the right presentation. Give us one second Ken. Sure. Okay great thank you so
much. As I was saying the California Department of Transportation alongside our partners at the
California Coastal Commission and water boards have been focused for about 30 years in the area
of stormwater quality management. Today I will be giving you a brief update on the Caltrans public
education campaign, adopt a highway program, and maintenance efforts to control trash. We will
start with a brief video ad from Caltrans latest public education campaign that seeks to influence
the public's behavior to help reduce human-made stormwater pollution. If you advance the slide,
the video should start with.
In California we love our beaches, lakes.
In California we love our beaches, lakes and rivers.
But did you know that highway litter and neighborhood pollution goes into storm drains and turns
into this and this and this?
So if you don't want this, use this and you'll get that and that and that.
Don't let trash run off.
Dispose responsibly and get clean California waterways.
Thank you, next slide, please.
Okay, trash left behind on Caltrans freeways
has created a complex challenge for Caltrans
in our effort to collect trash
before it enters the storm drain system
while maintaining Caltrans number one priority,
safety of Caltrans workforce and the traveling public.
Since 2019, Caltrans spent nearly $1.6 billion
collect nearly 4.5 million cubic yards of trash. That's enough trash to fill 1,374
Olympic-sized swimming pools. Caltrans has also swept nearly 2 million miles of roadside
shoulders, effectively controlling microtrash more susceptible to making its way into the
storm drain network. Caltrans and our partners have also been working to address the humanitarian
crisis of people experiencing homelessness by removing over 18,000 encampments from dangerous
and unhealthy conditions and connecting them
with shelter and social services administered
by local municipalities.
Encampments generate a lot of trash and other pollutants
such as bio-hazards.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development
alongside the California Interagency Council on Homelessness
has issued more than $820 million
in encampment resolution grants to local agencies
to provide social services benefiting
nearly 23,000 Californians.
Next slide.
volunteerism is paramount in facilitating social responsibility for the cleanliness
of our state highway system, especially at ramp areas where there is increased
pedestrian access and proximity to fast food chains. The Adopt-a-Highway program,
which began in 1989, has been one of the truly successful government-public
partnerships. More than 176,000 participants have cleaned and enhanced
more than 140,000 shoulder miles of roadside and saved taxpayers 265 million
dollars, an average of nineteen million dollars each year a hundred and sixty
adopted highway volunteers participated in this year's coastal cleanup event
collecting 301 bags of trash. Next slide please. Caltrans has invested nearly 50
million dollars in targeted public education campaigns over the last eight
years to increase public awareness regarding the detrimental impact of
illegal littering and illegal dumping. Highlighting the need for social and
corporate responsibility and keeping California clean.
Next slide.
The Let's Change This to That public education campaign
generated over 3.6 billion media impressions
garnered from earned media, paid media,
and paid social media.
Advancing a change in social behavior surrounding littering,
illegal dumping, securing vehicle loads,
and awareness of other stormwater pollutants of concern.
the new campaign, use this, get that,
is projected to generate more than 150 million impressions
resulting in substantial media penetration.
The map on the left shows the distribution of billboards
along high traffic corridors,
and next you will hear a radio spot
you may hear while you're on your commute.
If you advance the slide, you'll hear the radio spot.
In California, we love our beautiful waterways,
but did you know when trash isn't disposed of properly?
Rain washes it off our highways and streets
through storm drains and then into our beaches, lakes, and rivers.
So, if you love California waterways, don't let road trash, oil drips, and pet waste run
off.
Dispose responsibly and get clean California waterways.
Learn more at CleanWaterCA.com.
Brought to you by the Caltrans Stormwater Program.
Okay, next slide please.
So beyond trash, the campaign focuses on other pollutants of concern such as petroleum and
heavy metals from vehicles within the state highway system. The campaign also
brings awareness regarding actions you can take in your communities, such as
using environmentally friendly chemicals when taking care of your lawn
and garden, or washing your car. According to EPA estimates, just two days worth of
waste from 100 dogs can produce enough bacteria to close a beach. Therefore, the
campaign aims to encourage pet owners to take responsibility to bag it and trash
social media provides near universal access to young demographics with up to
95% of teenagers aged 13 to 17 using at least one online platform the Caltrans
public education campaign has secured eight influencers with a follower count
estimated at over 1.2 million followers next you will hear from B Kim an
Olympic snowboarder if you advance a slide that her social media posts should
activate. The world runs on water. It's pretty simple when you think about it. I'm B Kim. I'm a
professional snowboarder and Olympian. As a Southern California kid, I spent all my childhood
outside swimming, surfing, hiking, and camping. And you notice trash everywhere on the trails,
driving on the road, in the ocean, on the beach. This is when I can like detach from the rest of
the world and try not to see all this and you still see it there. I always carry a little bag.
If I see anything, I can just grab it and put it in there.
Litter on our streets and highways doesn't just look bad, it flows straight into the ocean.
Cleaner roads equal a healthier, cleaner Pacific Ocean.
Use this. Get that.
Keeping our streets, highways, and waterways clean is everybody's responsibility.
Go to cleanwatersa.com.
Keep California highways and waterways healthy for all of us.
All right, thank you for that. The next slide, if you will be, if you just advance through it,
there's some pictures of our efforts from Coastal Cleanup Day last year. There should
be a series of pictures that go through. Here we go, Otay Valley Regional Park. If you keep
an event in the slide, there you go, we have some more cleanups. You can see some very telling
pictures about all the efforts our volunteers have put in to respond to the Coastal Cleanup Day.
and the amount of cigarette butts from the Ocean Beach event in San Francisco was
very telling as well. A few events to the next slide, there's some other examples of our efforts
on some of the cleanup days. We have still had Creek Community Cleanup that was facilitated by
the River City Water Weight Alliance. They collected over 20,000 pounds of trash and debris
in three hours. You can see folks in the water there. Next slide. This is in San Clemente,
say that Calafia Beach cleanup we had 106 volunteers that collected 110 pounds
of trash. Next slide. And that concludes my presentation thank you very much.
Thanks very much Ken we appreciate it and really great to have a little bit of
a preview of the success of Coastal Cleanup Day and huge shout out to Caltrans
and all of our partners for working to make that such a success. We will be
doing our report out of the entire event I think in December at the with the
public when the public ed team does their their big report so stay tuned for
all the full details on the event but again fun to have a preview now right
after the event so thanks again to Cal Transit to Ken. So now I'd like to move a
little bit to update the Commission on our efforts to prepare for El Nino. As
you may have seen on September 21st the governor is declared a state of
emergency related to the upcoming El Nino that directs state agencies to take
several actions to prepare. It specifically directs the Coastal
Commission to expedite review and action on proposed development by coastal
communities to prepare for the impacts of this El Nino event. That includes
conducting a completeness review for any prep work applications within five days
instead of our normal 30 and scheduling those items for the next hearing. It also
directs the commission to accept both written and oral emergency permit requests and to take action
as quickly as possible and when necessary to address an urgent need within 24 hours of receipt.
So staff has been working in some cases around the clock to implement the governor's direction
and to respond to the emergency permit requests that have already come in as well as prepare for
the additional applications we are anticipating in the near future. So I thought it might be helpful
to walk through a list of the actions that we're taking to prepare. So if you will remember from
our presentation last month, one of the first things that we did was update the preparation
of new public resource documents. So that includes an updated El Nino website and documentation there.
We also have recently put out an FAQ for coastal property owners on emergency CDPs and what that
process looks like, how it works. And we have been conducting a lot of ongoing coordination with the
governor's office and with the California National Resources Agency on how to best and most
effectively prepare the state for El Nino and implement the recent state of emergency declarations.
And of course, we've issued a lot of ECDPs and you'll hear those reported out in the different
districts when the DD reports come up. So internally, we've taken a number of actions to
get us ready to be able to do kind of meet the moment, so to speak. We've established an
internal El Nino task force of executive leadership and technical staff. We meet twice a week
and more is needed. We've developed additional methods of expediting preparation and emergency
response work. We're adding and assigning additional staff resources to work exclusively
and emergency permits and CDPs for preparation work and we've set up a contact system to
be able to respond to emerging situations seven days a week.
Emergencies happen on the weekends and in the evenings as well, so we need to be ready to
respond to those.
As I'm sure you've all seen in the news, Beach Road in Dana Point has already suffered damage
related to recent hurricanes combined with significantly higher than predicted tides
due to warm ocean waters and the Kelvin wave, potentially up to two feet higher than the
general NOAA predictions in some locations. So several staff, including our South Coast
staff and engineering team, were able to visit the area yesterday with the City of Dana Point.
And Deputy Director Carl Schwing will spend more time specifically on Beach Road and reporting
out emergency permits during his DDR report later today for Orange County.
So the damage that we are seeing and expect to see throughout the El Nino season reinforces
the challenges our coast is facing with sea level rise.
We have many areas up and down our coastline that are incredibly vulnerable to just this
type of event as we've seen on Beach Road.
But more importantly, this is not just an isolated event.
This is our future, as we say time and time again.
It underscores how critical it is that we redouble our sea level rise planning efforts
to ensure our coastline and beaches are resilient
into the future.
So with that, I will turn to highlight a couple of items
related to the 50th anniversary of the Coastal Act.
So first, a reminder to everyone
that we're still looking for additional stories
about what the coast means to you.
These stories can be brief, more involved,
and pictures or even short videos
will help paint a more vivid picture.
You please visit our 50th anniversary webpage
to upload your story and help us understand
how the Coastal Act has impacted you.
So for this month's Act to Action, the first 50 years
of coastal protection, we have a few highlights
to share with you today.
First, the Spanish version of the 50th anniversary
of the Coastal Act story map is now
live on the commission's web page.
It is linked through the English version that
has been up since June.
A huge thanks to the entire translation team
as well as our mapping unit for the significant accomplishment.
There was a massive amount of text to work through as well
and
the
50th anniversary year rolls on.
Next, as part of our monthly act to action segment, this month's program spotlight highlights the commission statewide planning team and the commission's work on housing.
So I will now turn it over to Chana Gray for the segment.
Thank you. Good morning commissioners. I know we do have a PowerPoint for this.
Today for our 50th anniversary highlight series we will be discussing how the
Commission has been addressing and focusing its housing efforts over the
years. However before we do that I'd like to give you some context and background
on the statewide planning unit and you know just let you know how what
statewide planning does in order to support the Commission and the
statewide consistency objectives and that does include our housing activities
in the coastal zone. Next slide please. We are a team of 15 professionals working
across two interconnected branches. We have our statewide policy branch led by
our policy manager Aaron Praylor and supervisor Caitlin Carney. This branch
guides the agency's approach on a broad array of complex coastal policy issues.
issues. This branch also includes our housing coordinator, Shahar Amitay, who leads our
statewide housing policy and coordination work. You will hear a lot more from Aaron
and Shahar on housing shortly. Our coastal resiliency branch provides the scientific
and technical backbone that helps this agency respond proactively to climate-driven changes
along the coast, particularly sea level rise issues. I'm going to save introductions to
our coastal resiliency branch for next month's coastal resiliency highlight when we talk
more about sea level rise.
And although statewide planning is generally divided into these two branches, we function
as one cohesive and nimble team.
Staff regularly move between topics and project areas, which allows us to respond quickly
to emergency coastal issues and maintain and encourage consistent statewide implementation
of the Coastal Act.
Next slide, please.
At the heart of our program is a simple but essential mission, promoting consistency across
the Commission's regulatory work statewide.
We coordinate and help develop policies, procedures, and guidance to align local and regional
decisions with statewide coastal goals.
We also support Coastal Commission staff on coastal development permits and LCP reviews,
especially where emerging or cross-cutting issues are involved, and we lead internal
trainings to help build capacity across the agency.
Externally, we work closely with local governments and state partners.
We also lead several high priority initiatives and collaborations related to emerging coastal
issues.
I want to take a moment to highlight a few of our statewide planners, Claire Villegas,
Ali Green, Sydney Schmitter, and Olivia Wan, who contribute across multiple policy areas
from wildfire resiliency and utility corridor planning to open space dedications and lower
cost visitor serving in Luffy programs.
Their versatility allows us to support a wide, wide array of statewide needs as new issues
arise.
I'd also like to recognize our administrative analyst, Lela Nizari, who supports all aspects
of our unit's work, particularly tracking and reporting that improve the agency's efficiency.
Because our work shifts with emergency, with emerging science, legislation, and changing
statewide priorities, our team has to be adaptable to respond to new policy issues.
Today, much of our work is centered on sea level rise, wildfire resilience and housing.
Each team brings together staff with the expertise needed to research best practices, develop
guidance, support regulatory work and help the agency respond quickly to these issues.
With that, I'd like to turn it over to Erin and Shahar to brief you on the latest housing
efforts.
Next slide, please. Staff has previously provided several informational briefings on historical
housing trends on the California coast, including exclusionary housing practices of the 19th
and 20th centuries and the Commission's early history of providing affordable housing. Those
materials are available on our website. Today's presentation focuses on the Commission's more
recent work to promote housing that fosters vibrant and inclusive coastal
communities. We'll also look at the evolving landscape of housing in the
coastal zone and highlight several ongoing and future efforts that are
shaping this work. Over the past five decades the Commission has promoted
affordable housing through both individual permits and local coastal
program amendments. In recent years our efforts have expanded through
strengthened coordination with local governments and the Department of
Housing and Community Development or HCD. Next slide please. To understand the
Commission's recent approach to housing in the coastal zone it's helpful to
begin with the numbers. Between 2021 and 2025 the Commission facilitated the
development of approximately 2,700 new housing units in the coastal zone
including 695 affordable units. About 1,400 of these units were approved
directly by the Commission. The remainder resulted from zoning and land
use changes through LCP amendments. Over this same period, the Commission
processed and approved approximately 130 LCP amendments addressing topics such as
affordable and inclusionary housing, employee and farm worker housing,
emergency shelters, supportive and transitional housing, lot splits and multi-family residential
development, density bonus, housing element policies and rezones, accessory dwelling units,
mobile homes and tiny homes, and streamlined approval processes. Using these approved LCP
policies, local governments approved more than 3,200 housing projects, and because they process
roughly 80 percent of all coastal permits, most coastal housing decisions in the coastal zone
occur at the local level. Next slide please. This slide highlights a few recent examples
that illustrate what this work looks like on the ground. Included are two 120 unit 100 affordable,
100 affordable housing projects, one in Venice and one in Santa Monica, both of which included
public access benefits.
In terms of LCP amendments, the Commission approved a large 380-unit apartment complex
with 100 affordable units in San Diego.
And in San Luis Obispo County, the Los Osos Community Plan ended a decades-long building
moratorium and allowed the first new housing in a generation by incorporating water recycling
measures and important habitat protections.
And as mentioned, the Commission has approved LCP amendments throughout the state that have
expanded opportunities for accessory dwelling units, supportive housing, and tiny homes.
Together these examples show how the Commission facilitates housing development while ensuring
that new housing built on the coast is located in appropriate areas with services, avoids
coastal hazards, enhances public coastal access, and protects sensitive resources.
I'll turn it over to Shahar.
Next slide, please.
The Commission continues to strengthen its tools
and partnerships to support housing decisions
by publishing guidance for local governments and the public
on efficient planning and permitting
for a range of housing projects in the Coastal Zone.
These resources, along with our affordable housing webpage,
featuring case studies, planning tools, and a story map,
are available online.
Commission staff also maintains close coordination
with the State's Department of Housing and Community Development, or HCD, through monthly
interagency and task force meetings, ensuring consistent guidance for local governments
and project proponents.
Our interagency partnership also supports smooth implementation of housing legislation in the
coastal zone, reinforcing that housing, production, and coastal protection can work hand in hand.
Next slide, please.
Looking ahead, we want to showcase three major efforts that illustrate where the Commission's
housing work is going next.
First, in partnership with HCD, staff is finalizing housing element guidance to help coastal
jurisdictions meet state housing obligations while complying with the Coastal Act.
The guidance emphasizes infill development while addressing environmental justice, sea
level rise, agriculture, and visitor-serving uses.
It also underscores the value of early coordination with the Commission and HCD staff before adopting
housing elements and related LCP amendments to identify problems earlier and create more
predictable permitting outcomes. Second, staff is preparing additional guidance on accessory
dwelling units that expands on guidance published in July pursuant to SB 1077, which focused
on how local governments can incorporate updated ADU policies into their certified LCPs. This
next phase will address permitting procedures, coastal resource considerations, recent state
law changes and streamlining opportunities.
Third, the Commission will be implementing Senate Bill 484, legislation enacted last
year that the Commission supported.
It establishes a 10-year pilot program directing the Commission to use categorical exclusion
orders to fast-track 100% affordable multi-family infill housing in at least three coastal cities
that do not yet have certified LCPs.
Office compiled key data sets and begun preliminary analyses and launched an informational webpage
as Dr. Hucklebridge mentioned earlier in her Executive Director's report.
As we identify candidate jurisdictions, we will engage local, government, tribal entities,
and stakeholders before bringing the proposed categorical exclusion orders to the Commission
for Action in 2027.
Together, these efforts highlight a common direction.
Earlier coordination, clearer standards, and more predictable pathways for approving housing
policies and projects, while maintaining coastal resource protections that are central to the
Coastal Act.
Next slide, please.
This is all happening against a backdrop of rapidly evolving state housing law.
Listed here are just a few of the topics and priorities that have been the subject of recent
legislation.
This dramatic expansion of the law over the past few years has introduced significant
intricacy to how housing is planned and permitted, including how to smoothly implement many new
requirements and processes in harmony with the Coastal Act.
Fortunately, the policies of the Coastal Act are aligned with the goal of promoting
infill development, sustainability, and vibrant and inclusive communities.
Thus, while the state's planning and permitting processes continue to evolve, the Commission
has remained focused on approving residential development that supports residents, visitors,
and coastal resources, and that will serve California's coastal communities for generations
to come.
As California grapples with the statewide housing crisis, the Commission is uniquely
positioned to help address housing needs in the coastal zone, and our work over the past
50 years demonstrates that housing and coastal resource protection are not mutually exclusive.
We also want to emphasize the importance of proactively working with local governments
and partner agencies.
As housing challenges grow more complex, coordinated efforts will be essential to expand and streamline
affordable housing through innovative approaches.
Ultimately, continue to partnership and early coordination will be critical to meeting
California's housing needs while protecting social resources and ensuring that all communities
can experience and enjoy California's coast.
Thank you for the opportunity to present today.
Thank you.
So then we'll move on to this month's access spotlight.
So we wanted to highlight a newly opened public access way to a cove beach in Santa Barbara
situated near to the popular Santa Claus Beach in the Carpentaria area.
Padaro Lane Beach offers a sandy beach with quiet solitude. So I will turn it
over to Linda and Rosie to provide the spotlight. Good morning commissioners and
members of the public. Every open access way is emblematic of the Coastal
Commission's commitment to maximizing public access, but perhaps none more so
than the Padaro Lane Beach access way.
Having been envisioned in the 70s and opened just recently
in 2024, the access way represents the time
and dedication required to create
and maintain public access to the beach.
For this beach to go from a functionally private one
to a beloved area appreciated by locals and visitors alike is a
testament to the impact of the Coastal Commission's work.
Thank you for that introduction, Rosie.
So good morning, commissioners and members of the public.
Today the spotlight on public access
takes us to Padarro Lane Beach,
located as we already stated, Santa Barbara County
near the city of Carpentaria.
Here you'll find a little known public access way
located amid several dozen beachfront homes.
The trail leads to a mile long Sandy Cove,
bordered up coast by Loon Point County Park
and down coast by the ever popular Santa Claus Beach.
Santa Barbara County approved the Pedalang Subdivision in 1930,
which provided all 70 homes with private stairways to the beach.
However, the blueprint didn't set aside any land for a future public access way,
and rock revetments jutting into the water made it hard to access the shoreline from the adjacent beaches.
For almost 100 years, the only way for the public to reach Pedalang Beach
was for visitors to walk around large boulders during a very low tide.
The beach was essentially for residents only.
Then in 2024, the county opened Padaro Lane Beach Path.
The access way was made possible by a Coastal Commission
requirement placed on a residential project approved
in 1977, a year after the passage of the Coastal Act.
While it took some time, everybody can now
enjoy this coastal gem, which offers
a quiet, scenic alternative to some of the more developed
beaches in the area.
Next comes the two videos. Thank you.
Do you like secluded beaches with soft sand and gentle waves?
Check out Padarco Lane Beach in Santa Barbara County.
Located just north of the small seaside city of Carpentaria, this little-known sandy shoreline
is perfect for peaceful walks and watching the sunset.
The entrance is easy to miss, but don't get discouraged.
Take highway 101 to Padauro Lane.
Look for the coastal access signs on the 3400 block of this residential neighborhood.
There, you will find street parking along the shoulder.
The access signs will guide you to a fenced path running alongside a home.
Follow this narrow trail for about 200 feet to reach a set of steps leading to the sand.
Here you can take in the serenity of this quiet beach and enjoy views of nearby Lune
Point and Sandpoint.
Walk along the shore, look for crabs, and watch for dolphins, seals, and sharks among
the waves.
On a clear day, you can see the Channel Islands in the distance.
Public access to this family-friendly beach is made possible thanks to the California
Coastal Act and the California Coastal Commission.
Visit Padarol Lane Beach next time you're in Santa Barbara County.
3.5% of the residential service, and to the extent of the region of La Caja. The three of them are for a minute, which is a bit of a hoot.
They are a few years old and they are directed at the same time.
The people who are trying to get the plan to be able to find the right point and the right point.
They are for the region, with the congregations, and they are going to be able to find the finish, focus, and deliver the soul.
and the other speckados
that can save the cities of the canal.
The access to public housing supplies are familiar,
it is possible to access the places of California
and the commission of California.
We sit at the end of the meeting,
look at what we can do with Santa Barbara.
Thank you.
Next, I have just one more update on public access.
A few months ago, you saw in the executive director report,
Kate gave us an update on a project called Swim California,
woman that's swimming the length of the California coast, Catherine Breed, she is almost finished
with her 900 mile four month long swim. She's very close to where we are today. And you
recall in that update on the executive director's report that there was a pop up event in Monterey
where we had two commissioners, Commissioner Lopez and Commissioner Nodoff and I were able
to speak at this event to just explain to the public what the event is all about, which
Catherine Breed is promoting clean ocean, public access, underserved communities, young
people and young people, and especially for girls, promoting them access to the coast.
And Swim California just posted a video that exemplifies what her project is all about.
It's five minutes long and I think you'll really enjoy it.
Thank you.
Give me a second while we're waiting for the video to come up. I'll just go over the last 50th anniversary item
I have further my report today
Which is to say that finally it is celebration time at last
The beach party to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Coastal Act is this Saturday from 1 to 6 p.m. In Long Beach
at Huniparo Beach
The event is free of charge and open to the public and we have a fantastic slate of speakers
and activities lined up to celebrate 50 years of coastal protection and I hope
to see you all there. And now we'll wait and we'll get that video up and then I
have one more thing. And thank you for your patience for my extra-long report today.
I'm Katherine Breed and I'm swimming the whole coast of California.
I love this coastline and in going after a goal this big I wanted to bring people
along with me to showcase how incredible this place is.
We have seen so much life. And that's one thing I've noticed with the areas that are doing amazing
conservation work. Everyone gets involved and recognizes that we have to work together to
protect it and that's the synergy that you're talking about. And that's so important because
in California the engagement of the public, of citizens, of communities, is also something
what makes it all work. Last summer I went to New Jersey. Did you guys know that you have to pay
to go to the beach? We don't have that here. We gotta go to the beach. That is so special
and that's because of the Coastal Commission. The Coastal Commission is a state agency and our
job is to protect, provide and enhance the coastal resources for current and future generations.
And I was a little, I would collect copies of the guys.
The Coastal Commission is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
It was born by people up and down the coast coming together to stand up for our coast.
We were created by a citizens initiative that was passed in 1972.
And what was going on prior to that is the California coast was going through a boom
of development. All sorts of hotels and condos and gated communities and freeways and people in the
early 70s were very upset about seeing their coast walled off for just for the rich. The
voter said we want a state agency that is going to oversee all the local governments to make sure
that the coast is open and available to everyone forever. We have done an amazing amount of work.
We've opened up all sorts of access ways, we've protected water quality,
we've kept subdivisions so that they don't infringe upon public access, we've done each cleanup.
People consistently tell us that they want to be able to go to the coast and see it and use it
at any time that might work for them. And we're watching all of this, we're engaged,
we have legal authority and we use it to make sure that the public rights are protected.
So there's only like environmental changes happening on our coastline but then there's also
human factor changes threatening our coastline. How is the Coastal Commission addressing that
right now? So the Coastal Commission and the state of California, the governor, the attorney general,
all the citizens of California are standing with a united voice to say. One of the things we're
particularly concerned about at this point in time is the federal government's push to drill
for oil and do deep sea bed mining fracking off the California coast.
What we've seen in California over 50 years of careful coastal management is that a healthy
coast, healthy ocean has been very healthy for our economy.
What has been really heartening to me is that in the face of this unwarranted attack from
the federal government, it's really brought together Californians of all stripes to defend
California's coastal management program.
Everyone is supportive of California's coastal program
and has sent a message loud and clear to Washington
that California does not want to lose its voice
when it comes to protecting our coast and ocean.
California has been a pioneer in ocean protection.
This place is special because of the ocean,
but also because of the communities,
the citizens that are so engaged and so passionate.
I mean what Catherine is doing is inspiring all of us.
I have to say I'm kind of obsessed with what Catherine's doing.
You cannot swim up down the California coast without having a bird's-eye view of what
50 years of careful coastal management has done for California.
Being able to see that from offshore is a pretty cool thing that she's doing and it's
just you know what a badass I mean it's just very exciting that she's decided to take on the
California coast. Thank you. So the last item I have today is a little bit more somber but is
with deep sadness that I share the passing of one of our most beloved and remarkable members
of our coastal community Pat Visart. During his time at the commission Pat served as both the
north and south coast enforcement supervisor overseeing district
enforcement work statewide as well as providing support for many of the cases
that were elevated to you all as orders Pat was inspired to come work for the
Coastal Commission after we denied the San Luis Obispo County's plan to
develop the Hearst Ranch as a destination Gulf Resort in 1999. As the
chair of the Santa Lucia chapter of the Sierra Club he was one of the founding
members of the North Coast Alliance a group of local grassroots NGOs that
that formed the nucleus of the public opposition
to the Hearst Corporation's plans.
Although he'd been an environmental activist for many years,
that was the first time he'd ever engaged directly
with the Coastal Act, and it made an impression on him.
He was awed by the brilliance of Peter Douglas,
and impressed by the ability of a government agency
to save a place he deeply loved.
Those of us who had the great good fortune to work with Pat
will always remember his easygoing,
plain spoken, unpretentious style.
beneath a plaid flannel shirt and a short brim
Stetson, he was ferociously brilliant,
and with a ferociously brilliant analytical mind
that could form a bulletproof chapter three argument.
He came to know the Coastal Act as well as any attorney,
and he interpreted the law through the lens
of his diverse life experience
as a self-taught naturalist, general contractor,
and county planning commissioner.
His staff presentation in the 11 Lagunita case
regarding the extent of the rebuild,
down to the details regarding Perlin's
on the dimensions of the studs,
was considered expert testimony by the court
and contributed to the success on that seminal case.
Pat loved California's wild places,
from the Smith River to the Sesame Wilderness,
from Santa Cruz Island to his beloved Carrizo Plain.
He was a lover of music, a reader of books,
a paya magician, and a friend to all dogs.
He passed quietly on September 10th in his home
at the Goodwin Ranch on the Carrizo Plain,
and he will be forever missed by his colleagues.
Thank you, and that concludes my report.
Thank you so much, Dr. Hucklebridge
and everyone that's contributed.
I think we may have some comments and questions,
and there may be public comment, but before we do that,
I'm going to ask that we take a break until 11-15,
and then when we return, we'll take up the comments.
Thank you. So see you at 11-15.
Other than in ...
Do we have public comment on the Executive Director report?
No.
No?
Okay.
All right.
We have a quorum.
We're going to resume the hearing.
I'd like to ask whether there's any Commissioner comments or questions.
Commissioner Smith?
Thank you, Vice Chair Hart.
Dr. Hucklebridge, I wanted to go back to the El Nino emergency declaration and appreciate
the role and the work that the Coast Commission has in terms of working with local governments
and the permitting aspects in a preventative or looking ahead sort of way, I was curious
about and maybe Commissioner Williams will know some of this as well, but I'm curious
about the funding aspect of how that works and whether there was anything included along
with the emergency order that helps financially support those actions that need to be taken
to protect infrastructure, protect coastline, et cetera.
Thanks, Commissioner Smith, for that question.
I am not as familiar with the elements of the emergency that did...
I was more focused on the ones directly related to the Coastal Commission and funding was
not part of that.
I know that there were components looking at streamlining, contracting and other types
of things that was also included in the order.
I'm not sure if there was additional funding.
I'm not aware of any, but that doesn't mean that there hasn't been some made available.
I mean, typically, as I'm sure you know, you have to put out the money before you ever get it back.
If an emergency is declared, I was just kind of curious about the preventative nature of this emergency declaration
and how that might play out for local governments in particular, who have to protect and shore up their infrastructure.
Thanks.
Here's Commissioner Williams.
I'm sure he didn't hear the question.
He can just say yes.
So sorry.
Do you want to just repeat your question for Commissioner
Williams?
I was asking about the emergency declaration
and appreciating the preventative nature of it,
but curious if there is any state funding set aside
to address the prevention measures as opposed
to post-disaster funding?
The short answer would be no.
But we're working closely with the respective agencies
that were identified, and that we're coming up,
we're coordinating on lists of potential locations
that are exposed or have concern that we know about.
And essentially, what normally happens
is we have our SHOP program, which
is the State Highway Operation Protection Program.
And when we do have emergencies during the emergency season,
or sorry, storm season,
we utilize those resources to address emergencies
as they occur.
And so that's how we typically handle it.
And I think we're just getting a head start
on kind of mobilizing and preparing for what's likely
to be a very active storm season.
So thank you.
Hopefully that answers your question.
It does especially for state facilities. I'm curious for local governments if you know if there if there's any
Resources available or is it local output? See what happens?
Good at the order if it was preventative and nothing happened, but I'm because the impacts for local governments
I think could be pretty significant. I
I'm not totally in the loop on that but I could look into it. Thank you
And just say the conversation's ongoing and I would say if that's something you're interested in now's the time to get it in
There were also specifics on projects for local governments
I know we've been involved as a county and a lot of those conversations and
They're looking for very specific projects that you want to complete
And as part of that certain jurisdictions are saying and it would be nice if it came with funding to start leveraging that side
Of the conversation, but it's not been outright on the table. Yeah
Thanks, Commissioner Lopez, Commissioner Estolante
You just first I'm not to close that
I
Remember we used to have sort of this local government working group meetings
I feel like it's been a bit when when is the next one?
I think this this issue obviously has always been top of mind for that particular group and it would be good to
Have that conversation now or as soon as possible
Yes, we do still have the local government working group
And it's active, we actually meet regularly.
It's been a little bit more focused on sea level rise,
adaptation resilience, so that's sort of where that group
is focused time and effort.
But I think we've also used them as a resource
or an opportunity to talk through other issues
as they come up.
So I think we can definitely put that on our next agenda
if it isn't already.
I didn't attend the last one,
so I didn't know if this came up before,
but likely, it's top of mind, I think,
for everybody up and down the coast
of how we're all gonna meet.
There's a lot of coordination and a lot of things
that need to happen to keep people and property safe.
And so I think that's a great suggestion
to have the conversation there.
Do we have on the calendar the next one
where the whole commission participates with the group?
Is that going to happen in testing?
We are working towards, I believe, in December or November.
I don't remember.
Maybe actually November, potentially,
for a local government workshop with the commission.
Again, it focused more on sea level rise planning,
that's been the topic, but another opportunity
to engage with other members of that working group.
So yeah, I think it might be either November or December,
I just can't remember which one.
So it's coming soon.
Oh, that's so perfect, thank you.
I think that's very timely and very necessary.
And obviously, very alarming what's coming before that.
So first, deep condolences to staff
for the loss of such an important member of the family.
And we're terribly saddened and shocked to hear that.
And wishing everybody a lot of comfort
and sending you all lots of love, of course.
I'm so sorry to hear that.
And other than that, I mean, your report
It was incredibly fabulous and I think I really appreciate the fact that you guys are doing
so much outreach and getting out there talking to as many people as possible about taking
the opportunity of the 50th, but also just because we are now confronting such massive
issues that are coming at us really quickly.
And so I think this is a credible opportunity to take and you guys are doing a wonderful
job and to our outreach and communications and social media team.
I love those social media videos.
I think they're right with the times.
They help me navigate the coast for sure, make me want to see these places.
I had no idea that was there.
That was an issue now.
So I will definitely keep, you know, bookmark all of these things because I do.
I think it's very useful for the public to you.
So keep it up.
doing a wonderful job, and I really appreciate it.
And of course, the Spanish language efforts,
I mean, amazing, you know, near and dear,
but I also think that makes a huge difference
in terms of public outreach and inviting folks
to use the coast that is there.
So that's all fantastic, congrats, thanks.
Yeah, I just wanted to note the nexus
between our housing efforts to build the housing
and to do all that stuff, and again,
the lack of policy to preserve housing that exists
through the lack of good policy on STRs,
on short term rentals.
And I just want to say,
as someone who's seen those changes in my own neighborhood,
and I've seen it all over the place,
I find it often very cynical when we hear from,
especially from platforms,
not from citizens as much,
but from platforms that these impacts aren't real,
the impacts that we see.
And so I just wanted to be really clear about that.
The other thing was this morning we went on a little tour,
a few of us with the sea manager and the mayor
of this wonderful city, to look at some waterfront projects,
including dredging.
The engineer stated that we were at the low high tide
of the day.
It looked very high, but he was noting
that right now, just currently,
and what they're measuring from what we call the Kelvin wave
and all the other things that are happening,
a 1.3 increase consistently higher
on the tide here now today.
And that will be likely increasing
and moving up the coast.
So that's a lot.
We don't usually, I mean, obviously we don't usually see it.
that's what we're talking about it,
but I just wanna point that out that the impact is now.
Also of note that the king tides will be
at Thanksgiving and Christmas.
So, and there's not an expectation that that's going to,
that change is going to be dropping
so we can expect some historically high tides
during that time.
If they coincide with storm events,
water coming down from our watersheds,
But then also the fetch or the, you know, the storm surges that can occur from that.
I think I know in our county we've been trying to get ready for that.
We've been putting money in already for the in ordering sandbags now, positioning our
sand piles for the community and those sorts of things.
But that still won't be enough.
So I appreciate our efforts on that.
And I appreciate the state's efforts on that.
I don't know if I'm dressed as a as a as a Caltrans cone according to that
according to according to that screen up there oh my god okay don't look don't
look that way all right thank you so much for let me comment on that stop
I'm working right now as a member of my City Council with two interns and one of the things
that I've had them do is start generating resource maps for the community related to
all the natural resources in our coastal zone and then I have another intern working on
the kind of associated resources.
in our coastal zone.
And then I have another intern working
on the kind of a socioeconomic component, which
is how to develop micro-enterprises that
localities like the communities that I serve,
which it's unusual that the lowest-income communities
in the city on the coast are the most proximal to the coast.
It's usually an inverted relationship, right?
The closer you are to the water, the higher the socioeconomic profile of the residents.
So the reason I'm mentioning that is that I've seen some of the videotapes that are
emerging as a possible opportunity for the state and in the near future.
We have a lot of content creators out there and it might be shocking to see how fast and
and how easy a lot of individuals
could be invited to generate these videos.
Obviously, ours have a very specific mindset
and they are very compliant in thanking
the Coastal Commission and the Coastal Act for its work.
But it just seems that it's a missed opportunity.
I think that little beach, by the way,
My only tutorial is that those steps
didn't look very accessible at the end there.
But I am certain that there's a mitigation that
could occur over time to let people
with different abilities also access that area.
My point is, I think it's extraordinary what
we have available on the coast.
And as we worry about all the challenges it's facing,
we also have such an incredible resource.
And it may be that there are these young creators
that will go out there and produce content
that brings everyone closer just because they find
those little nooks and crannies in the spaces
and say this is accessible and this is not
and this is available and it's free.
That's one of the extraordinary things.
I too wanted to comment on the discussion that you just offered us related to the housing
element and I note that in a four year period we had 2700 homes in the coast and 695 of
them were accessible and in a coastline of almost 1100 miles the number is underwhelming.
that it requires that it be more but it's just surprising that with all the attention we have
throughout the state on housing development that this is the scale that we're talking about in
there are cities including mine one development has 2,700 homes and so it's just really unique
contextually what is before us, and to that end I wanted to join at myself, associate
myself with anyone committed to increasing the number of affordable units, and by affordable
I mean those that have the 55 and 75-year deed restrictions that become permanently
or as permanent as it can be because I think those never become available for example for
short term rental those remain as intended for workforce or for low income families to
also share in the coast and I'm particularly interested in seeing how that manifests moving
forward how incentivizing the availability of these homes so that the mix of people who
live along the coast can start mirroring what California is, which is a community that's
pretty diverse in its income and family income potential, but that doesn't mean anyone needs
to be excluded from the coast.
So thank you very much.
Madam Vice Chair.
Thanks, Commissioner.
All right.
Well, I'm sorry, sure, Commissioner Jack.
Sorry, I'm always late to the party.
Appreciate all the comments.
I was thinking, well, first of all,
I was struck by the orange shirt on.
It is October Halloween month, so that's certainly
befitting Commissioner Wilson.
Just a couple points, appreciated the report on the housing.
But as we know, what's given on one hand
is being taken away on the other hand
because of policies that permit these conversions
of what's intended to be long-term housing
into short-term housing for putting profit over people.
So we certainly need more housing,
but we have to protect the housing we have
as we continue to struggle with that.
watching the Caltrans video,
for those of us who are old enough to remember the 70s,
crying American Indian on the side of the street
where trash is being thrown.
You know, it's amazing how decades later,
we still can't figure out how to throw our crap away.
I mean, it ain't that hard at the end of the day,
but the fact that we have to spend millions of dollars
to remind people just to throw their stuff away,
just a reminder of the more things change,
the more they stay the same.
So that campaign, for those of us who are old enough
to remember it, certainly not Commissioner Lopez,
will always stick with us.
And then the last thing,
Commissioner Presidio and I were sort of chuckling
as we were watching the swim California,
and we leaned over and said,
is she gonna swim through Coronado and Imperial Beach?
It's a little joke, but there's obviously some seriousness to that, so thank you.
All right, I think that's all the comments we have.
I just want to say how much I appreciate all of the work that went into the ED report was incredible.
I used to live right up from Santa Claus Lane and seeing that access point and I loved your video.
Thank you so much for that and particularly having in Spanish.
I also want to call out the SB 484, we're talking about the need for housing.
It's a monumental leap forward in terms of our approach.
I think it's going to be very interesting to see how that pans out, which communities
are able to take advantage of it.
It's great that we have that online and also the other online access.
It's wonderful, Dr. Hucklebridge, really moving things forward.
So thank you so much.
I will say that the ED report is kind of like you feel like you're on an emotional roller
coaster, though.
There's so much great stuff, but there's obviously a lot to be concerned about.
All right. So on that note, we're going to move now to the
ledge report, and I guess that's going to be online since I don't see Sean here.
That's right. Sean's online today.
Yeah, good morning, Vice Chair Hart and
Communist members. This is the legislative report for October.
The last day for the governor to sign or veto bills was September 30th.
The majority of the bill's staff has been tracking that made it to the
governor's desk ended up being signed. In addition to the bill's staff already
reported out on last month, there are a few bills we want to briefly highlight today for the
Commission and for the public. First, the Governor signed AB 1740 by Assemblymember Zabur, which the
Commission took a support position on. The Commission will recall that that bill as amended
requires the City of Santa Monica to complete its LCP by January 2029, and it also expands the
existing process for the Executive Director to expedite new multimodal transportation projects.
The Governor included a signing message for the bill in which he emphasized just how critical
LCPs are for efficient coastal permitting and he expressed an expectation that the City of Santa
Monica and the Commission complete the City's LCP by the end of next year, which is the timeline
that the Commission and the City committed to in an MOU earlier this summer. We're also pleased to
report that the Governor signed AB 2734 by Assemblymember Greg Hart, which the Commission supported.
That's the bill that allocates a greater proportion of whaletail license plate revenues
and a portion of the revenues from the forthcoming 49ers license plate to the
Commission's Whaletail grant program and to the Coastal Conservancy's Explore the Coast grant
program. Now rounding out the list of bills that the Commission supported this year,
the Governor also signed SB 1159 by Senator Cobaldon. That's the bill that amends the
Coastal Act and a few other state laws to protect public common processes from being spammed by AI.
Another Coastal Act bill that was signed by the governor is AB 2051 by Assemblymember
Buffy Wicks. That bill amends the Coastal Act to authorize the Commission to retroactively extend
the deadline for a local government to accept the Commission's suggested modifications to a
land use plan amendment that authorizes a 100% affordable housing project and that otherwise
would have expired between January 2025 and December 2026. Staff mentioned during our report
last month that while the bill doesn't call it out by name, the author stated that this language is
specifically intended to give the City of Los Angeles additional time to accept the suggested
mods that the Commission made when it approved the City's LUP amendment for the Venice Dell project
in 2024. Separately, that bill, AB 2051, also requires the Secretaries of Natural Resources
and EPA to convene a working group of federal, state, and local agencies, including the Commission,
for the purpose of developing a permitting roadmap to increase the pace and scale of
resilience projects along San Francisco Bay and the coast. Speaking of working groups,
the governor also signed SB 178, which is the budget trailer bill that requires the commission,
state parks, the state transportation agency, and the Monterey County District 5 supervisor
to prepare a report to the legislature by April 1st of next year with recommendations for how to
reduced traffic and safety requirements while maximizing public access and resource protection.
Latin, we want to flag two other bills signed by the governor that don't amend the Coastal Act,
but are certainly relevant to the coast. The first is AB 1448 by Assemblymember Hart,
which prohibits state lands commission from entering into new offshore oil and gas leases
in state and marine protected areas and in designated national marine sanctuaries.
Second Bill is SB 1370 by Senator Henry Stern, which extends until 2029, the consolidated
multi-agency process for approving vegetation management projects. The Governor did veto a
pair of bills that staff has been tracking, both related to state grant programs.
Those two bills are AB 880, which would have increased state agencies' responsibilities
for covering grantees' indirect costs, and AB 1039, which would have required state
grantmaking agencies to provide advance payments for all grants up to $150,000.
In his veto messages for both bills, the Governor expressed concern that those bills
would divert too many state grant dollars away from their intended uses.
A link to the Governor's veto message is listed next to each vetoed bill and staff's written report.
All of the signed bills staff has been tracking will take effect on January 1st,
with the exception of budget bills which took effect immediately upon being signed.
Complete results for all of the tracked bills this year can be found in staff's written report.
Looking ahead, the legislature is currently scheduled to remain in recess until December 7th, when it will reconvene to swear in new members.
Toward the end of the year, staff will return to describe relevant results from the November election,
and also to present the annual new laws memo, which will summarize the signed bills from this session
that impact the commission and describe any actions that will be needed to implement that
legislation. And with that, Vice Chair Hart, that concludes the legislative report and I'm
happy to answer any questions. All right, thank you so much. It was very busy and I would say
for the commission, incredibly successful session. So thank you so much to everyone,
our Ledge staff and everyone that was involved in the 2026 legislative session.
Alright, I'm going to turn first to the Commission ask there any questions or comments with regard to the ledge report
All right. Is there any public comment? I know speakers. All right. Thank you very much
So that concludes that item and we will move on to the
7a the administrative calendar
There can be a report on that or all right. Thank you. Yes. Thank you. My sure heart
That's item 7a the administrative calendar. We have one administrative permit application for consideration today
And that's for removal and replacement of a dock and gangway in Newport Beach staff is not aware of any opposition
This administrative permit application and are therefore asking whether four or more commissioners object to its approval
Thank you. Do four more commissioners object seeing no objection
The administrative calendar is adopted item 7a. All right, we'll now move to item eight
Consent calendar items removed from the regular calendar
Give us one second
Sorry about that
Have the sequence wrong here
As you said, that's the item 8 move to consent calendar
So today we have five items that we're recommending be moved to consent and those are item 13 a for Humboldt County
LCP amendment time extension
item 13 B for Humboldt County LCP amendment on
Fences and mini storage item 16 B for a CDP application in Newport Beach for a concrete seawall
Item 16C for another CDP application in Newport Beach for a concrete seawall and item 17a for a city of Huntington Beach
LCPMM and time extension
Applicants are in agreement with staff recommendations on these items and staff therefore recommends a commission vote and approve the consent calendar items
Thank you. Thank you. Are there any ex partes on any of these items?
All right. Is there any public comment on any of these items? I hope we have no people sign were to speak
We only have one person in person available for questions Shawna Shaffner for items 16B and 16C
But just if there are questions. Yes. All right bring it back to the Commission ask if anyone wants to remove an item or have
A comment. I'm happy to make the motion and speak to it just for a second
They're two items for Humboldt County, which I'm very happy. We're so two-fifths of it
but one of them is an amendment that I'm happy that our staff did which was to move
many storage out of principally permitted in our commercial zones as we looked at more mixed uses in our
commercial zones and their commercial zones that were
especially on
public
transportation
zones and areas
We were finding that
We were really having these uses come into spaces that really could be used for housing in a much better way
So we are we we are having a more thoughtful idea about that because they really don't bring tax revenue to your community
They really don't bring foot traffic and they just really aren't appropriate necessarily in some of your more
Living space kind of commercial zones, so thanks and so I'm glad we could do that in the coastal zone as well
Thank you. Are you going to move the consent? I moved it. You did move it. All right
Do we have a second? All right, we have a motion and a second. I ask if there's any objection to
unanimous approval of the consent calendar
All right, seeing none. We're now going to move to item 9 the enforcement report
Miss Hagee
Thank you, Chair Hart. Good morning commissioners today
We're going to highlight some enforcement work that isn't always readily visible to the public and the Commission
Much at the time when you see enforcement staff on the mic up here
We're presenting resolutions of cases through formal enforcement orders
But, as you know, there are also some different administrative pathways to resolving violations.
Enforcement staff identify potential violations from reports or other means and then research
the permit and site history, coordinate with permit and technical and legal staff as well
as with local governments to determine what path is the most appropriate, including potentially
resolving it through a permit when the application happens to be pending.
And that's the path we're going to discuss today.
Getting coastal-like violations through a CDP is an important tool for our enforcement
staff to resolve violations and allows us to resolve them quickly and to make commission
meetings more efficiently and effectively.
To wait if there's a violation at a site with a pending permit application, we can sometimes
efficiently resolve violations with one commission action instead of having to bring forward
both a permit and then a separate enforcement action.
So it's important to note that when we can do this, the resource impacts can get addressed
sooner by piggybacking on a pending permit application by providing the authorization
for the work that is needed to resolve the violations in the same action.
In addition, there's the opportunity for some creative outcomes, such as combining mitigation
projects for permit and enforcement actions, thus creating better restoration projects
or access opportunities, and we'll discuss those today as well.
In part for these reasons, our district staff resolve many violation cases through negotiations
that result in compliance with existing coastal permits or application for coastal permits
to restore access or habitats and to mitigate for the impacts as well.
We're going to look at just a couple of such cases in the San Diego district that district
staff resolved by negotiating with an applicant to incorporate a full resolution of a violation
into the permit action.
First I'm going to hand the mic over to Marsha Vanegas, our enforcement officer in the San
Diego district to present a case in Coronado and then Andrew Willis
enforcement staff council and Southern California supervisor will present a
case in Del Mar. Good morning commissioners it is my pleasure to share
a resolution of a public access violation at Silver Strand State Beach
by Lowe's of Coronado. The Commission approved this CDP in May of 2025 to
extend the permit term. As part of this latest action we addressed the most
recent violation for the Beach Hut operated by Lowe's of Coronado.
Next slide, please.
I will discuss the new public access amenities provided to the public to address the coastal
act violations in lieu of penalties.
I will provide a brief background of the situation and show you the new public amenities implemented
as part of this resolution.
Next slide, please.
We are currently in North County and the subject site is closer to the South Bay Area.
On this slide, the area indicated with the yellow star is Silver Strand State Beach near
Imperial Beach.
To the south, across the highway from Silver Strand State Beach, you see the Lowe's Resort
in red.
Next slide please.
Lowe's of Coronado has operated the Beach Hut since summer of 2016.
This is the fourth permit action for the Beach Hut since Commissioned Staff, Commissioned
enforcement, state parks and the resort have worked collaboratively to address
issues of non-compliance that have arisen over the years and implement new
mechanisms to address these concerns such as adding the requirement for
monitoring reports to track the costs and usage of members of the public. The
resort operates a beach hut at Silver Strand to provide its guests with beach
gear such as umbrellas, chairs, and beach towels. Although a Commissioned CDP for
the Beach Hut had required the resort to make the beach equipment on this public
beach available to the public, initially the resort had commenced operations by
staging the beach chairs and umbrellas on the Sandy public beach. To address
this prior non-compliance, a subsequent CDP for the Beach Hut required them to
stop staging the equipment on the beach and required signage to make it clear
that the beach and the beach equipment is obviously available to the public
which you can see on this slide here. Next slide please. The current CDP
requires the resort to prepare annual monitoring reports that tracks usage by
the public and hotel guests. The concern is that the presence of the rental
chairs and umbrellas would give the impression that the public beach here is
reserved for hotel guests, which is not the case. The annual reports are intended to provide staff
with the information necessary to assess whether the signage is effective, to ensure the permit
conditions intended to ensure the public is aware the rentals and the beach itself are available to
the public are working, and the public are using the rentals and the beach as such. However, in
In 2023 and 2024, the resort failed to submit annual monitoring reports, which is the non-compliance
at issue and which made it difficult for staff to assess whether the rental service was discouraging
public use of the public beach at the site.
Next slide, please.
After a review of our records and permit terms, a collection of factual evidence to establish
the case working with permit staff analyst Melissa Belen-Gonzalez, enforcement staff
notified the resort of the violation and negotiated a resolution of the permit non-compliance.
Since the Beach Hut is approved on a yearly basis, this year's CDP provided an opportunity
to formalize a resolution and fine-tune the program offered by the Beach Hut to ensure
the maximum benefit to members of the public.
The CDP authorized the next year for the Beach Hut but also continues the resort's obligation
to make the beach rentals available to the public and to sign it accordingly, and it
caps the price of the beach rentals to ensure their affordability to provide future monitoring
reports.
The CDP also requires the annual monitoring reports described previously.
In addition, the resolution of the violation, effectuated in the issuance of the new CDP,
includes new requirements for installation of a filtered water filling station and interpretive
signage at the State Park, all of which are required to resolve the violation and address
monetary penalties and which are intended to provide additional amenities.
This slide shows the new water filling station installed as part of our resolution by this
proud State Park person along with one of the new A-frame educational signs.
Next slide, please.
This slide shows the new bilingual educational signage that the hotel has paid for and fabricated
which will be installed as soon as coordination with state parks is complete.
Silver Strand Beach not only offers access to beautiful Sandy Beach, but it also serves
as a learning station for our future coastal stewards.
Next slide.
With the right protections for public access in place through the CDP, the Beach Hut provides
a valuable low-cost visitor serving service for the public.
And indeed, the monitoring reports that we have subsequently received show the public
continues to use this service at the adjacent beach.
Access to coastal locations such as Silver Strand Beach helps inspire our future coastal
stewards and interpretive signage fills out that experience.
Even as a native San Diegan, until visiting and seeing the interpretive signs at the site,
I didn't know Silver Strand Beach is known as the home of the Snowy Plover because it
is a crucial nesting ground for the endangered plover with protected dune areas as seen on
photo on the bottom right. Cross-border water quality issues can affect many beaches in this
area, thus making protecting different options for public access such as Silver Strand Beach
all the more important for South Bay residents and visitors alike. Next slide. Finally, this slide
shows a beautiful sandy beach at Silver Strand Beach and the public campground authorized by
the Commission in the distance in the top right. With that, I'll turn over the mic to Andrew for
the next case. Thank you, Marcia. Good morning, commissioners. Next slide, please. Moving up the
coast to North Beach in Del Mar. Next slide, please. Thank you. This is an overview shot
of the next case, which involves non-compliance with the CDP that required removal of a riprap,
i.e. boulders from in front of a house in Del Mar, in front of a historic seawall.
For reference in the background is the San Diego Guito River and the railroad tracks and part of
the Del Mar Fairgrounds. There will be some better photos of the boulders. This slide is just to set
the location. The side of the boulders on the beach is indicated by the red arrow where they
are taking up sandy beach that would otherwise be available to the public. All of the beach seaward
of the seawall is public. This beach might seem fairly wide but you can just make out the high
tide lines on the sand and thus see how narrow the beach gets at times, thus pushing everyone
on the beach up against the seawall where the boulders are taking up the beach and thus precluding
access use of the beach. Then you can actually see a few people above the red arrow that are
set up high on the sand to avoid the waves.
Next slide please.
Here's an overhead shot of the unpermitted boulders at a higher tide when the boulders
take up just about all of the sliver sand that is available so you can see the impact
on public access.
At the top of this slide is a public streetend and lifeguard tower and public beach stairs.
Some of the boulders on the slide are there to protect the public beach stairs.
A coastal permit from the 80s for the seawall at the site required removal of the riprap
in front of the house, in part because of the presence of the seawall made those boulders
superfluous.
However, the applicant for the permit did not fall through on the obligation to remove
the boulders, and they continued to occupy public Sandy Beach without commission staff's
knowledge.
Next slide, please.
This is a ground-level photo of the old seawall and the boulders taking up much of the beach.
Again you can see from the coloration of the sand and the lines of beach rack in the background
that at times the much of the beach is reached by wave action. At those times the boulders would
completely preclude use of the sandy beach. Although not to be deterred without much other
sandy beach available in this photo you can see that someone has set up amongst the rocks.
And as you can see in the foreground, this seawall was starting to degrade.
And when the present homeowner purchased the property a couple of years ago,
they sought a permit to replace the seawall.
Next slide, please.
At that time, working with assistance from permit staff supervisor, Stephanie Leach,
a review of the site conditions and permit requirements,
revealed the presence of the unpermitted boulders at the site.
And enforcement staff began negotiating a resolution of the violation.
The relatively short time of the applicant had owned the property and their immediate willingness to resolve the violation consensually through the permit.
As opposed to a contested enforcement order, for instance, guided staffs resolution of the violation.
And resolution of violation included full removal of the unpermitted boulders and payment of funds to the city of Del Mar.
Specifically to be used for needed public access improvements immediately adjacent to the site.
And this is a photo looking down coast with the removal work in progress next slide please this is a drone shot provided by the city looking up coast you can see that the boulders have been dug out in the amount of sand that had to be excavated to get to the base of the rocks.
That's indicating the significant area that they had covered as an aside this removal work was done quickly and before the summer season that's limiting impacts of public access and standard being piece were in place to avoid water quality impacts.
Next slide please. The mitigation funds, which total $125,000 to address this applicant's liability, in which the applicant has been paid, will be used by the city to revoltate the public access stairs at the street end directly up coast of the site.
This is the current stairs, which we saw in the earlier overhead view.
Note that these stairs are perpendicular to the beach, which we'll come back to in a moment.
And next slide, please.
These slides have taken a good deal of use from storms lately,
wearing down the tread, railings, and seawall support,
all of which is in need of reconstruction.
And next slide, please.
This is a more recently rebuilt public access
staircase on the same beach, just a few blocks down
coast, that can serve as a model for the staircase
reconstruction.
You can see that this staircase has been configured
to be parallel to the beach, thus reducing
the area of public beach that it takes up and also by pulling back its footprint on
the beach, both reducing its susceptibility to wave action and the potential erosional
effects of the stairs. All of which, if implemented with the reconstructed stairs, will help achieve
the objectives of the resolution to preserve this public sandy beach and to improve public
access to the beach as well. And with that, I'll turn the mic back over to Lisa.
Thank you, Andrew.
I just wanted to note that these cases are just a couple of quick examples of the kind
of case resolutions that are possible and are able to combine resolution of a violation
with the permit when a permit is going before the commission and which then allows the commission
to simultaneously approve both the permit and the resolution.
And these are just a couple of the recent resolutions from the last couple of months
in this exact area and are just a snapshot of the work that your enforcement team is
doing constantly all up and down the coast to protect public access and coastal resources.
So that concludes our presentation, we're available for any questions you might have.
Thanks so much.
That was incredible, incredibly inspiring.
Thank you so much for all the work you do.
All right.
First, is there any public comment on this item?
No speakers.
All right.
Return to commission.
Commissioner Jackson.
Thank you.
Thank you for the presentation.
I continue to marvel at all the great work you do behind the scenes.
of it is not visible to the public nor anybody else who really isn't paying attention.
So just a tip of the hat to you and your team for your incredible perseverance and doggedness.
I know it's often frustrating but it's so important and when you see a positive outcome
like this, it's certainly appreciated.
So thank you to you and your amazing team.
Thank you.
All right.
Great.
any other comments although I'm sure the Commission is incredibly appreciative
Commissioner Escalante is probably going to be expressing that right now I'm just
sorry I did sort of was I had a question and I must get it out thank you for
everything you guys do amazing team you guys you know I love you guys and
appreciate everything you do as things are changing on the coast so quickly and
And people that are reacting to the emergencies
and taking care of things on their own,
we're gonna be seeing a lot more of this.
How, I don't sort of want, you tell me all your cards,
but do you have any reflections
on how the team is gonna move forward
dealing with these challenges?
Where there's also gonna be sort of public pressure
to not enforce.
So any commentary on that?
Thank you.
We get that sort of pressure between wanting
to protect public areas and private property all the time.
And you're right, it's exacerbated in times
when there are increasing pressures on the coast.
We're just working closely with our permit colleagues
to make sure that we are working in lockstep
and that we aren't taking enforcement action for things
that are being authorized under emergency permit processes.
We're very, our district staff work hand in hand
and we don't, as you heard both of them reference
their colleagues that they work with on the permits
and we'll continue to do that.
All right, that concludes that item.
What is your preference?
Would you like to do federal consistency or have a break now?
You wanna forge ahead or, it's up to you all.
How is everyone feeling?
want to do this item and then break all right I'm not seeing any strong opinion
so in that case we'll just move ahead with the DDR Cassidy item 10 thank you
chair give me one second okay that brings us to item 10 and the deputy
director excuse me report for energy ocean resources and federal consistency
division we have seven negative determination concurrences to report this
month and three de minimis waivers we're not aware of any speakers or opposition
these items and therefore ask whether three or more commissioners object to
any of the de minimis waivers. Thank you. Any public comment? No public comment.
All right any any comments or any objection? All right seeing none the
deputy directors report is adopted. We'll move on to item 11a. Thank you chair.
Just briefly since we're meeting in San Diego today, San Diego County today, I
I wanted to take a brief opportunity to include an update on recent efforts to help reduce the to you want to pollution
Do you want a river pollution crisis?
The Commission last time we were down in San Diego County in June Commission approved a
project by the county to help improve the the
Air pollution hotspot at Saturn Boulevard and I wanted to note that that project has reached a hundred percent design level
Just a couple weeks ago, and the construction is anticipated to begin very shortly
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors also approved funding initial funding for the development of a permanent solution at that site
As you may recall the the project approved in June was it was intended to be a temporary fix to improve the situation
Until a more permanent culvert or some other solution could be
funded and developed I
I also want to note that the County Board of Supervisors also approved funding for development of a local capture and treatment system to divert and treat Tijuana river flows.
As well as a project to replace an undersized culvert at Monument Road and construct an inline settlement basin to capture sediment and debris from the river to prevent it flowing into the estuary and ocean.
The US EPA also recently released it's quarterly update on September 30th indicating that the US IBWC is carrying out a variety of efforts to prepare for El Nino and the coming winter rains.
This includes maintenance along the rivers pilot channel coordination with regional agencies, including the county.
IBWC is also expecting final design approval this month for expansion of the International
Treatment Plant with construction beginning shortly after.
That's going to be a significant project that is anticipated to reduce by millions of gallons
per day the amount of polluted water in the river system.
There are also construction on several pump stations in Mexico that are slated to begin
later this year which should allow pollution to be directed towards treatment facilities
in Mexico and away from the river.
While there's still a long way to go, these projects are nevertheless meaningful steps
in the right direction and we're hopeful that this progress will continue.
So that brings us to item 11A and I'll invite our environmental scientist Dr. Heather McNair
to join us via Zoom to provide a brief stop presentation.
Thank you Cassidy.
Good morning, Vice Chair Hart and commissioners, because afternoon now, the next item for your
consideration is a permit amendment request from the South Coast Water District for design
changes to the yet to be constructed Doheny Ocean Desalination Facility. Next slide please.
The construction and operation of the Doheny Desalination Facility in the City of Dana Point
was approved by the Commission in 2022. The project was the first in the state to incorporate
preferred designs from the California Ocean Plan to reduce adverse impacts to marine resources.
In particular, the facility will use subsurface seawater intake, rather than withdrawing seawater
directly from the ocean, and will co-locate its brine discharge with an existing wastewater
outfall.
Next slide.
The project will use a series of slant wells drilled at an angle below the seafloor to
draw in ocean water that has been naturally filtered through the surrounding sediments.
Under the previously approved CDP, the well heads would have been located in the campground
at Doheny State Beach, with the wells extending roughly 1,000 feet offshore.
South Coast Water District is requesting a permanent amendment to modify the location
of the slant wells and associated water conveyance pipelines.
Rather than in the campground, the slant wells are now proposed to be located
in the North Day Use area of Doheny State Beach.
This change to the slant well location and intake facilities is driven by the results
additional geophysical studies that were completed following the Commission's approval of the original
CDP. Next slide. Preliminary geologic modeling suggested that the sandy, highly permeable
sediments needed for the slant wells extended from the mouth of San Juan Creek east offshore
of the campground. However, more recent borings, done to more precisely map the depth and extent
of the San Juan Creek sediments, revealed that they were in fact located farther to the west.
South Coast Water District considered several alternative well configurations
that would have kept the well heads in the campground. However, they determined that these
longer shallower slant wells would not have provided an adequate seawater supply to the
desalination plant and also may have risked destabilizing the existing wastewater outfall
piping. Next slide. Locating the slant wells in the north day use area would not change the
the facility's seawater use or its potential marine resource impacts, which were addressed
in the existing CDP. However, it would shift construction-related coastal effects from
the campground to a portion of the North Day Use Area. Under the original CDP, the Doheny
campground would have been closed for an estimated two years for construction of the
slant walls. Under this amendment, a picnic area and up to 225 of the nearly 700 North
use area parking spaces outlined in yellow here would be closed for approximately the same
duration starting in November of 2026. This area would provide for equipment storage and staging
while the slant walls are installed. Although the parking lot would be fully reopened following
this work and the slant walls installed in the picnic area would be below ground to minimize
their permanent footprint, the construction related closure would reduce parking capacity
and access to the beach and ocean at Dohény. These impacts would be particularly severe
during the summer season when the parking lot routinely reaches full capacity.
Some of this lost coastal access would be offset by a measure from the project's CEQA document
that requires alternative parking and shuttle service be provided during special events like
the Ohana Festival. Additionally, South Coast Water District has reaffirmed its commitment to
contribute to long-term coastal access improvements in this area. Through the pending state parks camp
Ground Revitalization Project, which is expected to modernize camping facilities and improve
flood resilience, non-automotive access, and overall public safety at Doheny. However,
these measures are not fully offset, they anticipate a loss of public access to one
of the most popular beaches and surf breaks in southern Orange County. Staff is therefore
recommending Special Condition 17, which would require South Coast Water District to work
with state parks to develop and implement a coastal access parking and public access
mitigation plan before beginning construction. The plan must evaluate project-related parking
losses, ensure that all ADA parking in the North Day use area remains available, and
provide alternative parking, shuttle or transit options, as well as other access measures
to fully offset the reduced coastal access during the proposed two-year closure of portions
of the north day use area. The plan must also demonstrate that these combined strategies
will maintain, to the maximum extent feasible, access for the number of visitors who would
otherwise be displaced by the proposed project. With the implementation of Special Condition
17, staff believes the amended project would be consistent with the coastal access and
recreation sections of the Coastal Act. Another issue raised by the proposed project relates
coastal hazards. The Commission found that in the original project was vulnerable to hazards
including seismic activity, tsunamis, and flooding and erosion. Under the proposed amendment, the
slant fuel field would continue to be vulnerable to the same coastal hazards. Additionally, the
proposed construction window starting this fall overlaps with the winter storm season and current
very strong El Nino event. Many of the original CDP special conditions are applicable to hazards
associated with extreme weather events, such as the El Nino storms, and would continue to apply to
the amended project. However, to ensure construction itself does not create geologic instability or
coastal resource damage, and to more completely address the potential hazards from El Nino storms,
Staff is recommending special condition 18 to require the South Coast Water District to prepare
and implement a coastal storm contingency plan. The plan would require identification of measures
to stabilize heavy equipment, protecting the construction site from flooding, and securing
the site from wave overtopping and inundation. With the existing conditions and this new
requirement, the amended project would remain consistent with Coastal Act policies focusing
on minimizing hazards and effects on the stability of the surrounding area. Next slide, please.
With the recommended special conditions incorporated, staff finds the amended project
consistent with Coastal Act and recommends that the Commission approve CDP amendment 9200691A1
as conditioned. The motion can be found on page 4 of the staff report. This concludes the staff
presentation. Thank you. All right great our chair has returned but just a little
late for this hearing so I'm going to wrap up this particular item. So I'll
start by asking if there any ex partes. All right how about public comment? Yes
we have a number of people with the applicant in here in person available
for questions. We have Mark Cerna I believe with the presentation. Okay Mr.
Cerna and how long do you need for your presentation?
How's that over there? Much better, thank you. I will be as brief as possible I'm
looking at probably between five to ten minutes. And who are you with? I'm with
South Coast Water District, Mark Cerna, the deputy general manager and chief
engineer with South Coast Water District. So I have a few slides to present and
all right it will be very easy. Thank you. Okay, thank you and again thank you very
much for hearing this item. We've been working very hard to get to this point
And I appreciate all the support from staff we've
Director executive director Hucklebridge Cassie. Thank you very much for your staff
You support Heather McNair and Joe Street being involved
They've been working with us very closely over the past several months trying to get to this point with our permit amendment
And also we have here in person. We have our staff our dohini team our general manager Rick Shintaku our
Staff and some of our expert consultants. We also have from State Parks the district planner
We have, let's see, we have online, we have Scott Kibbe, the district superintendent,
and Riley Pratt, and we have Eliza, Eliza Atwood, who is the district planner with state
parks.
Okay, so I'll go ahead and start.
Next slide, please.
So south coast water disc, I'll be brief here.
Again, we are a coastal agency.
served primarily Dana Point and South Laguna Beach, they also serve portions of San Clemente
and San Juan Capistrano, and to the north of us is Laguna Beach County Water District
and to the south is San Clemente. Next slide please. So why the region needs this project.
As many of us know, the south Orange County area is dependent on imported water supplies
from a metropolitan water district, or 90% dependent on those supplies, which come primarily
from the State Water Project in Northern California and also from the Colorado River.
This project is a five-mgd ocean desalination plant, which will provide a local drought-proof
supply for our customers and the local region.
There's substantial support from our customers.
We've surveyed our customers and so have our partners locally, and there's a definite need
and a desire to have a local, reliable supply of water in the South Orange County area.
Next slide, please.
So the Ocean Desal Project here, as we're talking about, is, again, a local project.
We have a current plan for an up-to-five MGT project at this point, which would provide,
again, a local supply for our drinking water needs.
We have all of our major permits have been approved to date, and this is, again, for
the amended permits that we're looking at.
The way this project is being delivered is through a progressive design, build, operate,
maintain delivery project which we've awarded back over a year and a half ago to a joint
venture team which is the Filance, Axiona, and Hazen team.
The current we've been going through a design to this date and we are at 60% design level
which was the intended first phase of this project and we have a current guaranteed max
price to deliver this project from a construction standpoint of $296 million.
Today we've received $40 million in grants, $10 million from the state and $30 million
from the federal government.
We are currently pursuing additional grant funding through the Bureau of Reclamation.
We've requested an additional $62 million in grants, which is going through the next
round of applications.
We also have received a local resources program funding through the Metropolitan Water District
which will provide approximately $40 million in funds to the project once we begin operations
in 2030.
We've also secured with you loan funding through the EPA and state revolving fund loans secured
in the amount of $50 million which we would then pursue once we pursue the next phase
of construction. And the plan is still currently to deliver the project and have it up and
running serving water to the south Orange County region by 2030. Next slide, please.
Again, Heather did cover this slide briefly, but, again, overall, the project is identified
as shown in the amended permit. We do have one of the core highlights of the project.
Not only are we located in an ideal location to be able to construct the slat wells in
this prime area in the aquifer of the San Juan Creek mouth or aquifer, but also because
we have regional transmission lines which cross our property, which is to the, in the
center green area, that is South Coast Water District's property. We own 30 acres of property
and we get dedicated about 10 acres of land to that site. And we have two major transmission
lines which bring the imported water supplies into Orange County and distribute it through
the South Orange County area and they cross our property. So we have immediate access
to those regional transmission lines. Next slide, please.
And again, just to cover the changes that Heather covered, on the left is the original
2022 approval which outlined the multitude of slant walls that we were considering at
the time as we've progressed through the design. We're currently now looking at the majority
of the slant walls being in the north day use area of Doheny State Beach. And potentially
there could be a slat wall at the campground if we determine that there's
the production that some of the other slat walls are not sufficient but we
will hold that as a potential and we may we may not construct that well but we
are constructing facilities in the campground to ensure that we do have
access there down in the future. Again we the slat wells were moved the
trenchless pipeline is now looking rather than going through the city
streets in the city of data point per their request they were they were not
favorable to have our open construction through the main streets of Dana Point.
So we did look at this other alternative to go trenchless which worked out very
well. So we are constructing a micro tunnel pipeline from the north day use
area to our treatment plant site at a diagonal to again convey that water, the
raw water source water to our site. And again the campground restoration
renovation has been collectively been working with state parks over the last
last year to identify the correct improvements for the campsite and enhance that, and that
is being currently proposed to be permitted through a separate state parks CDP application.
Next slide, please.
One other change to the project is our energy plan.
One of the original anticipated energy source of supply was through grid power from SDG
and E.
looked at that alternative very closely as part of our design and had a very
strong energy management team to look at that and we did pivot away from the
primarily grid power to actually on-site self generation using linear generators
which uses natural gas today and the plan is in the future that is that we
would work with the Orange County waste and recycling and the primitization
landfill in San Juan Capistrano that will ultimately be able to provide
renewable natural gas. And we would work with them to try to incorporate that
into the project. And these linear engineers can utilize RNG. And also we
are still, our goal is to be net carbon neutral so we have accounted for that.
And the offset would be through renewable energy certificates or RECs and
carbon offsets for the project. Next slide please. Again so the our partnership
with the California State Parks has been important for the overall project since
its inception back in the early 2000s. We've been working with state parks to
bring this design together and ultimately work with it with them to
develop a campground plan that aligns with their actual general use plan that
was developed way back in early 2000s. There will be a separate permit for that
that for these campsite improvements through a separate CDP application, as part of the
work, there will be some temporary campsite loss that will occur as we shut down the campground
to do this work, and that will be done between 18 and 24 months, but there was those campsite
losses will be offset through the state park's existing inventory of campsites locally and
through their other campsites.
Next slide.
Again, currently we have an estimated construction period of 37 months.
Work inside the campground will be roughly between 18 to 24 months to complete all of
that work.
We are looking at an anticipated start of construction in mid-2027.
We have considered the El Nino conditions that are expected this season.
It is part of our concern that we would try to bypass that period as much as possible
and start a little bit after that, so that is part of our timing schedule, we're again
also waiting on additional grant funding to help with the project cost, and we do have
a hearing tentatively scheduled with the state lands commission for our slant wells that
will be constructed out under the ocean floor, that's currently at October 21st hearing.
And we are working with the regional water quality control board on our NPDES permit
amendment, which is in the process right now.
hope to hear that early part of the year of 2027. Next slide, please. Okay. And so again,
our requested action here for South Coast Water District, we respectfully request that
the commission approve amendment number one to our CDP, number 920-0691, for the proposed
revised modified project with special conditions recommended by staff, which the district supports.
And again, we happy to answer any questions.
Ends my presentation.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I think there will be questions, but for right now, I'll ask if there are other public speakers.
Yes, we have one other person sign up to speak, Connor Evertz.
Okay.
Connor, you're moving as a panelist.
When you're able to, please unmute and begin.
Thank you very much.
My name is Connor Evertz.
I've been working on the issue of desalination
for almost 30 years, actually over 30 years.
We've seen a lot of proposals, few plants move forward
often because of cost and environmental impacts.
Now, this is an adjustment,
but I don't think anyone should underestimate
what a super El Nino is gonna look like,
having lived through other El Ninos
and seeing the impact on both infrastructure
and the offshore environment.
There is a lagoon in San Juan Creek
where Southern Steelhead have been seen
and we're a part of a group
of Southern Steelhead Coalition
trying to bring those fish back.
They're incredibly resilient.
Despite the fire's development, everything else,
they actually come from the mountains of Baja
and have survived and are kind of the origin of the species.
In terms of the technology,
I wish the money and time was spent on leak detection,
reducing the leaks within the system,
far more cost-effective and more immediate
than what I would end with is it's not the technology stupid.
Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you. No more speakers.
Okay, thanks.
If we could bring it back to staff and I have to say,
I'm a little confused as I think several of us are.
so if you could clarify the campground
versus the day use area, thank you.
Thank you, Vice Chair.
Yeah, if Dr. McNair can speak,
I think we can provide some more clarification on that.
Hello, commission, this is Joe Street.
I'm the manager of the Energy and Ocean Resources Unit.
I'll start out our rebuttal and then Dr. McNair
can chip in if I miss anything.
So yeah, just to clarify, as was described
in the presentations, the original proposal
was to locate the slant wells in the campground
and basically to co-time the construction
of the campground improvements that Heather mentioned
with the construction of the slant wells
and to kind of take advantage of those economies of scale.
The Campground Improvement Project is still going forward
despite the fact that the Water District now needs
to move the Slant Wells to the North Davis area.
So both projects are still occurring
and they're going to try to align the construction periods
as much as possible.
But that Campground Improvement Project
is a separate permit that's currently under review
by our Long Beach District.
So hopefully that clarifies that aspect of the project.
This current amendment does propose
one auxiliary conveyance pipe that would end
in the Northern part of the campground,
but it doesn't currently propose
a slant well in the campground.
If that were to be something the water district
wanted to pursue in the future,
they would need to come back to us for another amendment.
then in terms of responding to public comment I would just like to note that the slant well
construction would be via subsurface directional drilling there wouldn't be direct impacts to
San Juan Creek or the lagoon and that's all I've got for now and we're happy to take questions.
Okay I find myself still a little confused but I'll turn it to the commission first for any
questions then I'll uh-huh just wanted to make sure that in the further study
the new location of the slant wheels is absolutely going to work so that we
don't have the same issue and needing to start over or move locations again and
then I didn't hear enough about the overflow parking of the project is
stopping it or is going to begin in mid-2027 presumably at the height of the
summer season. Can we say more about the overflow parking and public access to the area during
the busy season? Yeah. So the water district. Sorry, you want to go ahead, Cassidy? No, go ahead.
Sorry, Joe. So the water district and state parks are collaborating to develop an offsite parking
plan and a way of getting people from off-site parking to the beach.
The plan will also need to include a place where drop offs can occur.
And as Heather mentioned, you know, the plan will have to provide for known that loss of
ADA accessible parking.
So that's, you know, that's the details are still to come.
that the requirement is, is that there be no net loss
of access to the beach.
And just responding commissioner
to your initial question about hopefully
this is the final location for these wells.
I think part of the issue that got us here
was that the original design
and location was based on preliminary geotech borings.
And so as further borings
and geotech investigations occurred
indicated that that initial site wasn't adequate, but now this has been much more thoroughly
studied, and there's a much higher level of confidence that this will be the final location,
and as I understand it, work is anticipated to begin as soon as next month.
Madam Chair.
Yes, sure.
So just to follow on that, I'm a little confused at the I'm not confused about what design
build is, but are you at 90% design, 95% design, and I have questions about that, but then
also about your funding plan if you don't have full funding for construction.
Thank you, commissioner.
Yeah, I can answer that question.
In terms of the actual work itself being performed right now, the timing of the funding will
actually come at a later date.
We have secured the WIFIA funding for a loan, and the state revolving funding also for a
loan in the future.
Our finance plan is actually working towards getting all of our partners in place, which
we would then go through a commercial papers process to actually receive commercial paper
to fund the cash flow of the project.
And then the WIFIA funds and the state revolving funds would come in later, and we're currently
getting grants today for the current design planning work that we're doing and also for
the construction that will happen.
So that's what that work would cover.
So there will be an actual financial plan which when the project is awarded, will receive
financial close to actually fund the overall project.
So the project hasn't been awarded if you're going to start in a month?
So okay.
Just for a correction on the timeframe.
So for the funding, we have a plan to ultimately fund the project in the future once we have
all of our agreements in place, and we would then go to an award of this progressive design
build project as a two-phase, a two-step process.
So the progressive design build originally was developed so that we would want to take
our projects.
Excuse me one sec, sir.
Would it be possible to close?
Thank you.
It continues.
Oh, sure.
I just couldn't hear you well.
We got it.
Okay, thank you.
design bill allows our project to move forward to a 60% design level which now allows the
contractor to provide an estimate of the project cost which is a guaranteed max price for the
construction and for the long-term operations. What happens when we award the second phase
which originally we were looking at next month or in November, we reconsidered that timeframe
of November, 2026, to move out perhaps past the El Nino period and award that construction
project, because of the impacts or the uncertainties with the Super El Nino, we would see a lot
of risk moving forward with the project at that time. So we are trying to push that timeframe
out a bit and award the project at that time. So more like mid-2026 is when we would begin
building and constructing facilities, and then we would be shutting down portions of
the campground in a staged effort. The North Bay area would be primarily microtunneling
work and some slant well work and the campgrounds would come right behind that. So that's the
timing that we're trying to coordinate with because of the El Nino and the future for
grant opportunities where we've pushed the timeline out a bit. Does that answer your
question? Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
Okay, so I'm going to turn to staff to try to get some clarification in my mind.
So today what's before us is the amendment of the original permit to move the slant wells
from the campground area, from going to the clamp ground area, now into the day use area.
And what I heard was that the mitigations are specifically as it relates to the day
use area in terms of access to the day use area.
But there's so much more that we heard about so I just want to be clear.
You're going to return to us with the campground improvements, which will also address campground,
the mitigation of the loss of the campground.
That's going to be coming before the project starts?
That's correct.
That is an application that State Parks submitted to us, our South Coast District Office is
reviewing that, anticipated coming forward to you all in the coming months.
I'd also note that the original permit for construction of the desal plant and contemplated
closure of the campground, and there was mitigation required there for that campground closure.
And so that's still kind of on the table, that's going to be one of the factors that
we're considering with that campground closure project, the revitalization project.
The mitigation was to ensure that the campground at San Onofre, which is typically a seasonal
Campground would remain open longer to provide some offset so that's that's
something that's that's still part of that effort. So I think that at least
from my perspective I understand what's before us today and I personally am
supportive of that but I think that before the project gets going and I'm
actually happy to hear it that because there could be additional damage not not
it could be impacts to your project but there could also be additional damage to
the campground there could be impacts to the beach I mean we don't know what's
going to be happening but so when you return to the Commission I think it'd be
really helpful to pull the whole entire package together. This is what's going on
with the slant wells, with the day use, with the campground, what the mitigations
are and to hear sort of the whole package together. I think that would be
really helpful so although we may have an approval today depending on what the
Commission does for the movement of the slant wells I think that it's the whole
package that you really need to we really need to consider. So on that note
I turn to the commission ask if there's a motion with regard to this item.
All right.
I think you want to read the motion.
I believe it's on page 4.
Is it 920?
Yeah.
I move a commission approval.
Approve coastal development permit amendment number 9-200691A1 pursuant to staff recommendation.
This is the conditioned approval.
approval or approval for conditions. Second. All right we have a motion a
second is there any objection to unanimous approval of the motion? Seeing
none the motion is approved and I am finished as my my chairdom has
concluded for today. It's brief but meaningful. Okay thank you um I look to
staff and my colleagues if they would like to break for lunch at this point
And I think we're going out today is that correct that's correct. Thank you very much
So if everyone could please be back at 1 30 to resume our calendar. Thank you
Okay, thank you, thank you everyone I hope you all had a nice lunch we will
Return to today's agenda and we are on item 12 the deputy directors report for the north coast district. That's great
Yes
Item 12 is the deputy directors report for the north coast district this month which includes two
immaterial amendments staff is not aware of any opposition to these items and we
are asking whether three or more commissioners object thank you are
there any ex partes any public comments no speakers do three or more
commissioners object to anything in the deputy directors report seeing no
objection the Commission concurs it's great all right that that takes us to
item 12a this is a request from Kaipoma to waive the CDP amendment application
filing fee required for its submittal of an amendment to install a steel swing gate at
the entrance to Blues Beach in northern Mendocino County.
As background, in April of 2025, this commission approved the original CDP, authorizing a land
division that resulted in the transfer of 136 acres of coastal bluff and beach lands
to Kaipoma.
And in December of 2025, the Public Access and Management Plan Agreement between the
Commission and Kaipoma was finalized. The land transfer between Caltrans and
Kaipoma occurred earlier this summer and Commission staff have worked
closely with Kaipoma representatives to implement the objectives of the
management plan, which includes managing access and protecting natural and
cultural resources on the property. The fee owed for the current excuse me the
fee owed for the current application is $1,626. This
This application is under review and is anticipated to be scheduled for an upcoming hearing agenda
potentially November or December.
In cases such as this, the Coastal Act authorizes the Commission to waive the filing fee for
an application for a CDP or a CDP amendment.
And when the Commission waives the filing fee, it may specify whether the fee waiver
also applies to future amendment applications.
When considering a request to waive a filing fee, the Commission is required to give extra
consideration to granting a fee waiver if the applicant is a nonprofit organization
and if the proposed development allows for habitat restoration or the provision of public
coastal access.
In this case, staff is recommending the commission authorize the fee waiver for the current amendment
application as well as future amendment applications because KIPOMA is a tribally chartered nonprofit
corporation that operates on a limited budget funded solely by grants and donations.
The current pending application proposes to install a gate to manage access and protect
resources.
A waiver of the filing fee for this and future amendments to the CDP will allow KIPOMA to
direct its limited organizational resources toward the direct costs of managing the Blues
Beach property in support of public access and natural and cultural resources.
The motion to adopt the staff recommendation is on page two and we are available for questions.
Thank you very much.
Are there any ex partes?
Any public comment?
There are no speakers.
Okay.
I'll return to the commission.
Commissioner Wilson.
I'm happy to make a motion.
I move that the commission direct the executive director to waive the filing fee for a close
development permit of application number 1-2-4-06-2-A-1 and any future amendments to that permit pursuant
to the staff recommendation.
Second.
And I recommend a yes vote.
Thank you.
That's a motion by Commissioner Wilson.
second by Commissioner Escalante any objections to unanimous consent seeing
none the motion carries thank you all right thank you that does take us on to
item 15 which is the deputy directors report for the south coast district
Orange County the report contains five waivers for residential projects in
Seal Beach Newport Beach Laguna Beach in San Clemente and there's also one CDP
Amendment and one CDP extension.
Staff is also reporting on several emergency CDPs
that have been issued over the last several weeks.
Around the Labor Day weekend, high tidal conditions
combined with storm surge from hurricane weather in the Pacific
led to significant wave overtopping, erosion,
and flooding along mostly southward-facing beaches
Orange County. During that time period, staff received emergency requests from state parks
for sandbags and other measures to address safety concerns to beachgoers in various locations within
Crystal Cove State Park, from Laguna Beach for work to address damage at Aliso Beach,
as well as from Orange County to address issues at Capistrano Beach Park in Dana Point.
Similarly, property owners of oceanfront homes along Beach Road in Dana Point, just south of Capistrano Beach, experienced damage to numerous seawalls and residences.
Due to the severity of the damage, some of these properties were yellow or red-tagged.
About 26 property owners applied to and received permission to install a rock revetment across the width of their properties.
In a few instances, the homes were not considered repairable and were authorized for complete
demolition and removal of the debris.
Staff sought to minimize the footprint of these proposed revetments and to place the
revetments as close to the residents they were protecting as possible to minimize occupation
of the beach while still addressing the identified threat to the property.
continue to receive requests for additional properties along Beach Road and we'll report
on those additional sites next month.
I do have a few slides to run through if we could bring those up.
So staff did a site visit just yesterday to Beach Road and these are some photographs
from that site visit.
The first is an example of the home that is likely slab on grade and collapse to the erosion.
Next slide, too.
And the same site looking down coast, you can see some pioneered efforts to prevent
damage as well as some of the collapsed portions of the residents.
Next slide, three.
This is an example of a home, a more recently developed home that is likely on pilings.
And so it did fare a bit better, but there's still damage on the seaward side of the homes.
Next slide, four.
Here's an older home on wood pilings, and front portion of the house has collapsed.
And there are concerns about the loss of lateral support for the foundation system that we're
reviewing some current requests for.
The next slide, 5.
This is just from an elevated vantage point.
Looking north, you can see some of the revetment that's been installed, as well as some of
the efforts that, you know, pioneered efforts to protect the residences.
Next slide.
Again, another home with a lower level damage, and next slide.
And here, you can see there's limited space between the waves and the homes.
This is a temporary access road that's been constructed to facilitate rock placement down
coast, and we expect that's in interim condition.
And that's the end of the slides on, for Beach Road.
Staff also granted requests for similar revetment to protect a home in the Laguna community
of Laguna Beach, as well as work to protect a sewer main that had become exposed on the
beach in that same area.
Sewer line was also exposed by erosion in San Juan Creek and Dana Point, and is also
of being reinforced to prevent future breakage.
And then shifting down coast along the same shoreline, we received a request for an emergency
permit from OCTA and Metrolink to allow for limited reinforcement of the railroad tracks
along the southerly portion of San Clemente where erosion of wave action of damage existing
shoreline protection.
work with OCTA and Metrolink to identify a limit to the scope of work proposed, which
included rock, ballast and sand placement within an approximately mile-long corridor
in the vicinity of the south end of San Clemente State Beach and Cybershores Residential Community.
This action is intended to cover work to protect the tracks that is anticipated ahead of bringing
OCTA's regular coastal permit to hearing which is likely going to be next month.
Follow-up regular coastal permits will be required for most of these actions including
if the property owners wish to retain the protection installed on an emergency basis
and or wish to modify or replace the protection with a different solution.
This is just a report out.
There's no action for the commission to take on the emergency permits.
But with that, we're asking whether three or more commissioners object to any of the
waivers in the report or the amendments or extension.
Just to add, thanks, Carl.
I don't know if you saw the deputy director's report.
I think it's 274 pages.
It may be one of the longest I've ever seen.
There are so many emergency permits.
that's like something we've never seen before.
So just wanna note that and also to give a big thank you
to our Long Beach staff that have been working
incredibly hard to turn all these over very quickly,
including nights, weekends, the whole nine yards.
They've been really risen to the occasion and it's not over.
So we're trying to figure out ways to manage,
manage the work to give them some much needed space
when possible.
just again thank you to everybody who's been really busting their tail to get
these permits out. Thank you. Okay I'll return to the Commission first asking
if there are any ex partes. Any public comments? I guess we have about 22 speakers
sign up for this item. We'll start with those in the room starting with John Dow
followed by Joe Wilson and Gary Walsh. John Dow. Make sure you turn the mic on.
Thank you.
Good afternoon, commissioners.
John Dowell with Save Our Beaches San Clemente commenting on 0068.
Emergency permits have become OCT's substitute for planning for foreseeable hazards.
Since September 2021, at least eight have been issued for San Clemente,
a few of which have been issued to replace rock that's already failed.
And despite tens of thousands of tons of rock, wave overtopping and rail closures continue.
This has sacrificed beaches without delivering dependable rail resilience.
This permit continues that cycle, authorizing up to 15,000 tons of additional riprap, while
sand is not a requirement and, if placed, only on the rail right-of-way.
OCTA's reactive approach delays the solution that protects both the railroad and the beaches.
In 2024, OCTA's board member, Katrina Foley, questioned their riprap emphasis and missing
sand plan. And UCI's Brett Sanders warned that expanding revetments would worsen the
erosion and undermine restoration. How much beach has been lost waiting for the beach
buffer that we all know is necessary? There are glimmers of hope. OCTA's September 28
CEO report recognizes sand as the essential first line of protection to dissipate wave
energy before it reaches the revetment and embankment. And a recent OCTA register headline
says, OCTA declares emergency for rail protection so able to act fast on sand
replenishment projects. It reports, the move allows CEO Darryl Johnson to
advance shoreline protection with about 690,000 cubic yards of sand in areas of
San Clemente where the rail line has been damaged in recent years or is
vulnerable to future threats. But where is the sand? The sense of urgency. For
For years, OCTA has talked about sand and repeated sand placement prerequisites.
But what diligent progress toward sand placement has occurred?
Require OCTA to publicly disclose their progress and explain delays.
And when prior permits required sand, it didn't happen.
Areas 1 and 2 required 240,000.
I thought I had three minutes.
I just have a little bit left.
Just finish your thoughts, sir.
Pardon me?
Please finish up.
Thank you.
shore after five years wears a meaningful mitigation for lost beach and
access. Armory without a maintained sandy beach has not delivered dependable rail
protection. Require enforceable sand delivery and mitigation
obligations. Require demonstrated progress on sand projects. Set public
milestones and firm dates for sand placement with minimum volumes, beach
width targets, and maintenance requirements. Thank you sir. Okay include
these conditions and emergency follow-up permits. Emergency action cannot be
Permanent Beach laws. Thank you. Okay. Joe Wilson Gary Walsh and Susie Whitelaw.
I'll buy you some of John's time back. I'm sure you welcome that with 22 speakers.
I've got a slide if you could put it up there for me please. This picture is I'm sure looking
pretty familiar by now. What I'd like to talk about is just an element of what happens when
you over revette, I guess is one way of putting it. You see up at the top there, six, seven
years ago, the revetment went to where that big toe is in 21 and then down to 22 it continues
to extend northward. You can see where the revetment is wider that the sand is disappearing
just ahead of it, and that's my point today. I'd like to go through a couple details. You're
well aware of the beach erosion in our town, but I'd like to fill you in on what the citizens
think about your enabling OCTA actions and plans for rail protection there and how they
impact our beach.
We've been watching OCTA's strategy of peace-mealing emergency boulder drops whenever a large swell
chews away more beach, and every time the revetment, regardless of width, proves that
it can't protect the tracks.
It doesn't work.
And we know that.
But the gradual northward expansion of the revetment continues.
They're 200 feet, 500 feet, step by step,
now creeping north from the Cypre Cove area
into California State Beach, which is where it is now.
The key thing our citizens have learned
is that the northern tip of the expanded revetment
where it meets the beach
creates what's called flank erosion,
where the waves bashing into the rocks
scour away that adjoining beach.
They don't just wash back out.
They move in the direction
of where the revetment is growing.
So day by day, week by week, the beach shrinks
as the revetment creeps northward,
and it's no longer just the so-called distant private beaches
to the south that have been destroyed.
Now it's in the state park, and the sacred family
and volleyball beaches north at Riviera in Las Win
are in the line of fire.
They see it coming.
That's why I'm here today.
Those neighbors are starting to pay attention,
and they don't like what they see.
Everyone and I mean everyone knows that the large seawall and revetment being examined in OC TAs coastal rail resiliency study
Derided by many citizens the coastal destruction study 30 seconds spell the end to our beaches without massive and ongoing sand replace
Thank you, sir punishment. Yes
Got it. Thank Gary Walsh Susie white law and then Walt string fellow
We'll come back Susie white law walt string fellow Mike a
I've got some slides
A year and a half ago, OCTA applied for a permit to pave over about a half a mile of
San Clemente State Beach advance.
This is how wide that revetment would become.
Although the existing revetment has been protecting those tracks for 130 years.
Next slide.
The problem with that advance again, you can see this extremely popular beach would go
out and you're allowing them under this permit to extend the riprap out 50 feet from the
tracks.
out. That's important because that occupies all the flat area of the good hard compacted
sand. And once you occupy that with rocks, you're left with a slope in front. And once
the waves, we've got a really high energy beach here, once the waves start hitting those
rocks, that slope gets even steeper. Next slide, please. When you do sand replenishment,
you need a beach to start with. You've got a place to put your pipes down, you go out
And look here in Oceanside.
You've got to build a little dam so that the water,
it comes out as basically a water,
and it doesn't just float away.
Next slide.
Once it looks like this, which is what it will look like,
how do you set up your equipment to even replenish the sand?
Next slide.
So what we're asking is that you limit the amount of rock,
the amount of footprint of the rock to 30 feet out.
I know you can't read this, but this is OCTA's own diagram.
and with my mark-ups, with their engineering minimum standards, and you can see you only
need to put that revetment out 30 feet.
And we're asking that the minimum be requested as the maximum amount, 30 feet out from the
tracks is all they really need to stabilize their slope, not 50 feet out.
Next slide, please.
This is also from their permit application.
They proposed that they only needed a 30-foot wide revetment on one portion of the beach.
But a 50-foot wide revetment once it got onto the public beach.
And if 30-foot can protect the private beach, 30 feet can protect the public beach.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next is Walt Stringfellow, followed by Mike Kay and then Cord Bauer.
Yes.
Hello.
My name is Walt Stringfellow and I'm a San Clemente resident and a longtime user of San
of San Clemente State Beach.
Some of my most valuable memories
are taking my children there in the 1970s,
shortly after this commission came into existence.
And the commission came into existence
and has a mission statement of committing
to protect and enhance California's coast and ocean
for present and future generations.
And you've just seen the most demonstrative demonstration
of the damage that's being done by the current program
that OCTA has undertaken.
I can't speak to the technical issues of it.
I can speak as an individual who has watched
the Reventment March northward along the beach.
And you know we're in a location that's,
we're very close to the location
the 2028 surf championships in the Olympics.
And that's going to get a lot of attention worldwide.
And can you just imagine what kind of commentary
will be offered in connection with the Olympic games
with drone shots of the coastline north
from Trestle's facilities marching up
through St. Clemente State Beach,
somebody might well wanna comment on the fact
that was once a state beach park.
A state beach park that by then, under OCTA's proposal,
will be covered in boulders, no access whatsoever to sand.
Somebody might wanna comment on the fact
that since 1972, we've had a California Coastal Commission
committed to taking care of our public resources
in this state beach in particular.
And I've heard comments today and seen pictures
of great efforts to remove a few boulders
in front of somebody's house,
some other place down in Del Mar.
And what we've got here is a disaster in the making.
It's already, it's already happened by 2028,
just imagine what it'll look like
and imagine what anybody is gonna have to say
about what the California Coastal Commission was doing
as these came into being.
Thank you.
Next is Mike Kaye followed by Cord Bower
and then Wendy Morris.
Gary Walsh is here.
Okay.
Slides, please.
I got some slides to put on.
Mike Kaye, Kaye, no slides.
Commissioner's staff, I'm a resident
of the area affected in San Clemente.
San Clemente fears the OCTA plan
of a giant revetment in a seawall,
a $300 million hardening of our coast.
That is phase one.
That is the OCTA proposal, currently.
Lately, the town has rallied.
The town has a measure M on the ballot.
They're trying to raise their own money.
There's a US Army Corps plan to come in,
put in a bunch of sand.
We would like to see OCTA,
and we think that OCTA is starting to change,
bring in sand.
Next slide, please.
OCTA has recently proposed a six to 700,000 cubic yard
sand placement in the affected areas.
We propose that a system of conveyors,
as you see right here,
this is in Waikiki, moving sand.
Next slide, please.
Be placed in the affected areas.
Trucks can bring in sand.
We have a number of quarries.
These are trucks that are bringing in again in Hawaii.
We can do the same, easy enough.
San Clemente has already done this in our own town,
has even pitched in, brought in over 225,000 cubic yards.
San Clemente has an active 300,000 cubic yard
scoop permit currently.
With funding, we could bring in sand
under an emergency order within weeks, literally.
Next slide, please.
Sand, clean sand being pumped right over.
Next slide, please.
This is a overview of what we proposed.
If you look closely on the bottom left, you'll see a conveyor system running from the top
parking lot, the red shaded on the parking lot where trucks bring in the sand, a system
of conveyors moves it underneath the rail line to an existing section of beach.
Rail traffic would not be affected and from there, sand can be moved out.
we would urge you to encourage and demand
that OCTA use this sand in this area
and not hardening with seawalls and jetties.
There is a way to bring in sand and that's it right there.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Gary Walsh, then Korg Bauer and Wendy Morris.
Here's my previous colleague, Gary Walsh,
Save Our Beaches SC.
As my previous colleague mentioned,
There are ways to put sand on the beach.
But apparently, OCTA cannot figure this out.
Four years ago, they told us,
we are studying how to get sand down.
Now in that length of time,
SpaceX has managed to build a rocket
and send astronauts around the moon.
But OCTA, ask them today if they have the plan.
They've been studying it for four years.
Ask them for their plan.
They should be able to pull it right up.
But apparently they can't,
because each time we've asked them,
They say, we're still studying ways to do this.
So are they still studying or are they just putting you off?
I have a feeling they're putting you off.
OCTA is no different than Big Oil.
They both believe that their existence is crucial.
But you should treat them like you would treat Big Oil.
OCTA has promised over two years
that they would incorporate sand into the project.
But the only preparations they've made
was to stage riprap in a yard a few miles away
and arrange contracts to get more.
California needs you to hold OCTA to its promises.
You have the enforcement capabilities.
For the sake of everyone, do not let them get away
with eliminating a beach during your watch.
They have promised to put sand down on the beach.
Ask them for that plan and you'll see.
They might not have it.
So don't believe them.
It's like when you get those little things on your phone
and say, hey, you spent $1,200 on Amazon, right?
What should you do with that?
Zip that thing right away.
When OCTA tells you, we're gonna put Sam on that beach.
That's what you should do with them.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, Cord Bauer, followed by Wendy Morris,
and then Sarah Spinozzi.
I have slides.
I might have slides.
I hope I have slides.
Maybe I should just talk with my hands.
There we go.
Good afternoon.
Liquefaction is when wet, loose ground suddenly
loses its strength and behaves more like liquid than solid.
Next slide, please.
An example is wet beach sand.
It feels firm when you stand.
But if you wiggle your feet, it turns soupy and you sink.
The same thing can happen under the train rails
when the ground is already saturated by nearby seawater.
Next slide.
Saturated wet ground can stay that way for years,
but then a catalyst, like an earthquake happens,
the ground can liquify and give way.
Next slide.
We've had lots of land movement
and San Clemente next to the tracks.
If the ground under the tracks turns to liquid,
when the freight trains rumble by and the bluffs are wet
from a recent rain, which will happen,
that could cause destabilization
of both the tracks and the bluffs.
Next slide.
Perhaps, this is why OCTA's own experts mentioned liquefaction eight times
in their 38-page study.
Our experts sent the OCTA hundreds of pages of studies,
telling them why riprap would scour away the sand and how liquefaction
under the riprap would be the next issue.
That's this winter.
Next slide, please.
The only way to avoid liquefaction is to keep seawater away from the tracks.
Rip rap has already scoured away the small amount of sand you can see in this photo right up there.
That's gone.
The next step will be ocean water permeating the ground beneath the tracks,
and then liquefaction will be next.
The rocks are making the issue worse, not better.
Wide sandy beaches are the best way to protect the tracks.
were protecting the OCTA from themselves.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next Wendy Morris, Sarah Spinozzi, and then Kaylee Morris.
Good afternoon, commissioners.
My name is Wendy Morris, and I really
appreciate all your efforts on keeping
our beautiful California coastline
protected and preserved.
I have a good fortune of living near Riviera
Beach in San Clemente for about the last 30 years.
And Riviera Beach has not had rock
dumped on the sand there. It's had it docked, docked, excuse me,
dumped nearby, but not on the sand there. But this summer, I've
noticed our sandy beach has really taken a change for the
worse. We no longer have the beautiful waves that attracted
so many young surfers, residents and visitors who all help
stimulate our economy. All we have now is a dangerous shore
break. Much of the sand is gone because of all the railroad
dumping the rocks, and it's eroded all the sand.
And it keeps coming further and further out
from where the recent dumping has occurred.
But once you step into the water now,
the bottom is covered with cobble,
which makes it dangerous to enter and exit,
especially when the shore break is hitting you
and tossing you around and knocking you over.
It is not deep enough to duck under.
And so we had several emergencies this summer
people getting hurt at our beach is because we're losing sand. For years the
railroad has been dumping riprap on our beaches many times without asking for a
permit and causing erosion of our sand. We need mitigation for all the dumping
that has been done for all these years. We need our
protectors of our coast, you guys, to require sand to be dumped by rail cars
instead of rocks, and we need it now. If the railroad wants their tracks to remain
on the beach, there has to be a beach there. Build it up with sand. That will
protect the tracks and the beach. We can have them both if we work together. There
is no current emergency right now. The emergency permits are just a way of them
getting them fast. Large wave events come and go and they're not going to stop
occurring. We need to be prepared by having plenty of sand on the beach. The
railroad should mitigate the dumping of the sand and it should be required to dump
sand in large quantities over time to build back our beaches. Thank you ma'am.
And we can work together to get a beach and tracks. Thank you. Sarah Spinozzi,
Kaylee Morris and then Mitch Silverstein. Good afternoon commissioners my name is
Sarah Spenuzzi and I'm the legal director for Orange County Coastkeeper, and I'm here
today to comment on the emergency CDPs for OCTA's continued dumping of riprap on public
beaches.
Coastkeeper prides itself on being an advocate for the environment that is thoughtful, responsible,
and realistic in its asks, which is why we understand that the Commission's permitting
of riprap to protect the railroad is a difficult issue for the Commission.
If you don't give them permits, you risk that the Governor will simply exempt them
from the Coastal Review at all.
But I'm here today to make an ask
that we think is both responsible and realistic.
First, we ask that you stop giving OCTA emergency CDPs
for the addition of riprap that continually encroaches
on public beaches as you've heard today.
This whack-a-mole approach is harming public beaches enjoyed
by hundreds of thousands of people, and the fact is
that neither the commission nor OCTA knows how long this
additional armoring will even protect the tracks. They keep coming back to you month
after month with a continued need. And so you cannot thoughtfully weigh the cost of
the erosion of public beaches with the potential benefit which we think is probably minimal
because they keep coming back to you month after month. Second, we ask that the Commission
be comfortable with a decision that may require temporary track closure while a full CDP is
reviewed, if safety demands that the track be closed.
While OCTA continually discusses how critical the railroad is, the fact of the matter is
that it is so regularly shut down that it's not a reliable form of transportation.
As a person who lives in San Clemente, travels to San Diego, I've used the railroad.
It's not reliable.
don't get to where you need to go on time
because the track is regularly closed.
You should be questioning the continual statement
that this is an important part of critical infrastructure
for national security.
OCTA comes to you year after year, I'll wrap up,
OCTA comes to you year after year for emergency permits,
but this approach is not responsible
for the protection of the coast.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Kaylee Morris, Mitch Silverstein, and then Julia Chun here.
I'm Kelly Morris, and I'm here with Save Our Beaches,
San Clemente.
There's a video there, okay.
So what you're seeing now is the south end of San Clemente,
near the county line where Orange County
and San Diego counties meet.
This is the Cypress Shores area beach,
and it used to be 200 feet wide.
All of these rocks that you see on the video
have been dumped by OCTA over the last five years.
And they're using emergency permits.
The total is 27,000 tons of rock.
Because of the rocks and the waves
scouring the front of the rocks,
the beach has never been able to recover, as you can tell.
Coming up in a minute, there's a red line
that shows the beginning of San Clemente State Beach.
That's where the Cypress Shores stops.
And the State Beach begins.
There's still lots of rock, but it's,
see it's, there's less right there.
All of the gray rocks north of that line
were dumped last month with your emergency permits.
This amount of rock is just 1,000 tons.
You're authorizing another 15,000.
So think back to all the rocks you saw before the red line.
This year you're authorizing about the same amount of rocks
on San Clemente State Beach
so I can imagine what can happen to that.
You're allowing OCTA to dump rocks 50 feet out
from the tracks which is all of the dry beach.
This beautiful state beach will end up looking
just like what you saw in the beginning.
There's a beautiful campground
with hundreds of campsites up on the bluff
and they will have no beach.
Everything you are looking at right now
will be gone and covered with rock.
You'll see a green line soon just coming up
and it represents the end of the permitted rock dump,
that's just after the access from the state beach.
That's right there.
In the distance, you can also see the dais parking
for the several hundred cars that park there
and go to the beach.
And where will these people go to the beach?
Had to explain that their beach is gone
and all of that beach will be gone.
And there's no plan to bring it back.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next is Mitch Silverstein, Julia Chung here,
and then we'll move on to our Zoom speakers.
Thanks Mitch Silverstein with SurFighter Foundation. SurFighter has dismayed and alarmed to see over 30 emergency permits for armoring across Orange County.
Altogether, it will likely add around 30,000 tons of boulders across public beaches, further exacerbating permanent beach loss while offering at best temporary protection for private properties and public infrastructure like the rail corridor through San Clemente, and it's not even winter yet.
I want to thank South Coast OC District staff as well for doing their absolute best on this.
It's no secret that whatever protections and considerations we have being exercised
here are thanks to the Coastal Act and the Commission, and that the Governor could swat
those protections aside with more emergency declarations.
We need to be mindful of that.
At the root, all this emergency response, armoring, represents a lack of proactive adaptation
planning by property owners, local governments, regional and even state agencies.
I've seen beachfront property owners disparaging the Commission on the news as if this agency
can stop climate change and keep the ocean at bay.
Meanwhile, OCTA has been planning to protect a railroad
in San Clemente for another 30 years,
when in reality, it may not even survive 10 years,
let alone this winter.
Surfighters called for relocation for over 20 years.
Including today's permit,
we're looking at over 40,000 tons of emergency,
or up to 40,000 tons of emergency boulders
across a mile of beach since 2021.
OCTA keeps promising more and more sand, but where is it?
I know their staff is working with commission staff
on follow-up permits for all of this,
but we're now over five years
into an ever-expanding emergency revetment
that's destroyed an entire beach, and zero mitigation.
Surfrider requests a public informational hearing
with OCTA and relevant agencies like SCRA and CalSTA
at a commission meeting in the near future.
San Clemente residents and beachgoers
deserve to have some updates.
If what's happening in Orange County
is how we're gonna respond to a change in climate
and rising seas, California isn't gonna have a beach anymore.
Thank you.
Thank you, Julia Chun here.
Then our first three Zoom speakers will be Tony Nelson,
Joe Hart and Chris Russell.
Good afternoon.
Julia Chun here with California Coastal Protection Network.
So way back in 2011 when I first started my policy manager
position with the Surfighter Foundation,
moving the tracks in Del Mar was impossible.
And now that's being considered and it
has been for a few years now.
And during the sea level rise planning adaptation process
in Del Mar, which was contentious to say the least,
we learned that the widest part of the beach
would disappear sometime between 2030 and 2050.
Del Mar and other coastal cities, as well as the rail agencies, have all been put on
notice. I want to oppose the question to you today is when does this riprap come out? We
want to encourage continue to encourage strong planning efforts. These issues are here whether
we like them or not, and we cannot rely on emergency permits. Excuse me. Emergency permits
are not a way to regulate or protect our coast. And I also pose a question of how long do
we really have with that train there? Thank you. Thank you. First up on zoom, we have
Tony Nelson. Tony Nelson, you're in as a panelist. There you go.
I'm here. Can you hear me?
Yes.
Good afternoon. My grandson recently asked me,
Mimi, what happened to our beach?
I told him our beaches have been starved of sand for a very long time.
He said, but why don't we just feed them lots of sand?
Indeed, out of the mouths of babes.
We welcome OCTA's promised sand,
but don't put the boulders in first and promise the sand later.
We might never see it.
And if thousands of tons of rock cover this narrow shoreline,
how will you even manage to deliver that sand?
This emergency permit authorizes 15,000 tons of riprap
along roughly a mile of our coastline.
Think about what that means to us.
And for a beach that in places has no dry sand left.
and OCTA is basically asking you to do this repeatedly without separate permits.
You will be giving them permission to destroy our entire shoreline. And for what? We repeatedly
hear that Los Angeles is the nation's second busiest passenger rail corridor. Really? But
that describes the 351-mile system. My analysis of actual Amtrak and Metrolink ridership data
found fewer than 4,000 passenger trips through this vulnerable segment every day during the
operational months in 22 and 23. It's not much more today. And that billion dollars in freight,
that represents less than half a percent of California goods movement. If this segment is
so vital, the planning process would already be underway to relocate this line. And yet,
the plan hasn't even started. Relocation is a myth. We can't put a railroad down the middle
of the undulating five freeway. It just won't work. This is not happening. The Coastal Commission
is entrusted with protecting California's coast and public access to it. Don't sacrifice us to
a railroad that's on life support. My grandson and yours need you to save our beaches. Thank you.
Thank you. Next Joe Hart, Chris Russell, and then Tyler Bowden. Joe Hart.
Hi Commissioner, can you play the video? Yes, we have your video. We're bringing it up. Thank you.
Og need more rock. Dump rock. Wait. Failure. Emergency repair. Study. Dump rock.
And to reach one of the world's most iconic surf coasts,
people walk an active passenger and defense rail line,
then climb down jagged rock.
Ogh, not think this how beets supposed to work.
Water crash on rocks.
Sand wash away, beach no more.
Do same thing over and over and get same results.
Rock fight with waves.
Need protection that manage waves and calm them down,
so sand stay on beach.
Og like sandy beach. Riprap throws wave energy back at the beach, stripping the sand that protects
the bluff. The rock pile feeds the cycle it was meant to stop. S.E.C.S. Restorative Hybrid
Infrastructure Systems. Designed to attenuate wave energy, not throw it back, reducing reflection,
run-up, overtopping, splash, and localized scour.
Rocks not pretty and kill beach vibe.
SECS hybrid dune systems can be buried in sand and planted with natural vegetation,
tested at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineering Research and Development Center,
Texas A&M University, and the Hart Institute.
hybrid infrastructure that protects the line, supports habitat, and supports safe public
access with a smaller footprint than RIPRAP.
All brake cycle.
All go surf.
Coastal resilience evolved.
Thank you.
Next is Chris Russell followed by Tyler Bowden and then Elizabeth Taylor.
Chris Russell.
Chris Russell, I see you're in as a panelist already, you should be able to unmute.
You should, okay, I see that your camera is turning on, and there you go.
All right, thank you, Commissioners, for allowing me to speak on this important issue.
I am a longtime resident of Orange County.
I don't belong to any group, but I have been visiting Orange County, and specifically the
San Clemente beaches over the last 40 years as I raised my daughters along with my wife.
It saddens me greatly to see the beaches and the condition that they're in.
We know why that's the case, all the cementing of the waterways, the creeks and the rivers.
The building of the Dana Point Harbor has prevented that silt from coming down into
the coastline, creating that sand that we've seen create, be created for thousands of years.
That's why we have no sand.
The problem is, it's a man-made issue.
We are now having a third man-made issue, creating the sand depletion, and that's this
This rock, 15,000 tons of rock.
I understand the importance of the rail line,
although some of the speakers have indicated
it's not as important,
but the coastal commission's in a tough position.
What I would suggest though,
is that as we try to balance the two needs,
is that at a minimum, we put conditions
as the other speakers have indicated
on the OCTA in terms of not only putting the sand
on the beach, a specific amount on a specific time,
but also as you do with private homeowners,
once the emergency has abated,
they then have to take the riprap and the rock off the beach.
You do it with private homeowners
and in order to maintain credibility with the public,
you have to treat private homeowners the same as you do
these large money public entities
that appear to want to cozy up to you folks
to get what they want.
But your job and your mandate is to protect the public
and to protect the coast.
And by forcing them to not only put the sand specifically
where and how, but also to take the riffraff off,
we'll do exactly that.
And that's what I strongly, strongly urge
the Commission to do, if in fact it's implying
to grant the permit.
Thank you.
Next is Tyler Bowden, followed by Elizabeth Taylor
and then Michelle Brooks, Tyler Bowden.
Thank you very much.
And I did submit a slide to be presented.
Yes, we have it.
Thank you so much.
Good afternoon, commissioners.
My name is Tyler Bowden,
and I'm the current chairman of the board
for the San Clemente Chamber of Commerce.
And I wanted to submit this slide
to give you a representation of the impact
of sand replenishment in San Clemente.
and representing small business in San Clemente,
I can tell you that the recent sand replenishment
that we've had has caused San Clemente
to enjoy an uptick in commerce.
And it's a direct result of the ability for visitors
to have access and opportunity to enjoy our beaches.
And as a representative of commerce,
I completely understand the critical importance
of the rail line, not just for local or regional,
but also for national and even international commerce.
But I don't think that those two virtues
are mutually exclusive.
So protecting our rail line
and preserving our beaches can happen at the same time
if we prioritize sand replenishment,
but if we only prioritize the protection of the rail line,
then we'll lose one of those virtues, which is beach access.
So given your emergency permit that requires that OCTA
preserves as much beach access as possible,
I would implore you to utilize your administrative authority
over OCTA to ensure that they replenish our sand
and maintain access to our beaches to preserve
our communities and our visitors access to our beaches.
Thank you so much for your time.
Thank you.
Next is Elizabeth Taylor followed by Michelle Brooks
and then Ken Salter.
Elizabeth Taylor.
Good afternoon commissioners.
My name is Elizabeth Taylor.
I'm an environmental attorney.
We've had the good fortune of living
in Southwest San Clemente for the last 10 years.
And for the first five years up until September, 2021,
one of my favorite activities was strolling our beach
from the San Clemente pier south to Trestles.
That was possible on most tides.
But unfortunately, since that dump of rocks
back in September, 2021, it has no longer been possible
for the last five years that that access way has been closed.
And, you know, this is something under the Coastal Act.
This is a primary goal is to ensure that the public
have this right of access, this lateral access is critical.
And these emergency permits,
they are designed to be temporary.
and the reason that is so is because those impacts
have never been properly analyzed.
The whole point of CEQA is to give the public
the opportunity to see what are the potential impacts
and to mitigate those impacts.
And unfortunately, the public has never had that opportunity
due to the ongoing use over the last five years
and more of emergency permits for this rail line.
One of the claims that has never been scrutinized
is what is the critical importance of this line?
We keep hearing OCTA making that claim,
but they've never had to actually prove it.
There are alternatives to moving passengers
and moving freight.
We've seen that this line has been closed cumulatively
for over a year, just within the last five years
and the public and companies and freight,
everything has managed just fine.
So I think it's time to really stop this use.
misuse of emergency permits.
These are public trust tight lands.
The public trust doctrine is one of our most critical
public use laws.
It ensures that because these lands that are,
you know, from the beginning of our democracy,
we have held these tight lands
to be of critical importance to the public.
And yet now we are just giving them away.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Next, Michelle Brooks followed by Ken Salter
and then Kieran and McGuire, Michelle Brooks.
Thank you.
Commissioners, my name is Michelle Brooks,
long time very involved resident of San Clemente
and avid beach goer married to and now raising surfers.
I'm here to support Save Our Beaches.
We wanna say we appreciate the work that you do
to protect our coastline.
We know it's thankless at times,
but we truly believe you want the same thing we all do,
safe and accessible beaches.
Personally, I feel you've been fed
some bad information from OCTA.
efforts to save their tracks are directly diminishing the little sand we have left on our beaches. We've
watched it happen with our own eyes. Pretty soon there won't be any beaches left for all to enjoy.
It's not too late to change course and make better decisions to protect one of our most precious gifts
from mother nature. Our small beach town cherishes its beaches. We built a beach trail and ample
parking lot so everyone can come and enjoy them. We welcome and rely on visitors to help our town
thrive. We give back to our beaches through volunteer cleanup efforts constantly. It's a
rite of passage for our kids to do junior guards. I could go on, but mostly I just want to thank the
commission for your time, for responding to our emails, meeting with us, coming in person to see
firsthand the destruction we've been witnessing, and to especially thank Dr. Hucklebridge and
Deputy Director Schwing for their continued efforts. Save Our Beaches wants to thank all
commissioners for the time you guys put in with this increasing challenge. Thank you for
for helping us prioritize, protect,
and maintain our coastline for all to continue to enjoy.
Thank you.
Next, Ken Salter, followed by Kiernan McGuire,
followed by Sue Griesbach.
Ken Salter.
Hi.
Hello, commissioner.
For the past five years, we've been following a failed strategy
of adding more and more rock without paying,
without acting on the emerging information
that sand is a solution because we have to remove the energy
before it gets to the tracks.
Now that we're seeing this concern with liquefaction
as well, it's pointing firmly in the direction
that adding riprap is not the way to go.
My concern is that there's so much riprap out there
right now that adding sand isn't gonna work either
because it's just getting washed away.
So I think that, and I think that what we're looking at
is admitting that the riprap is with a mistake,
removing most of it and adding sand.
So what I would ask is that as part of this,
as part of the, well, I would ask that we take a pause
don't do anything until until Opticon has a true engineering criteria data
based that says how much riprap is optimal there has to be an optimal value
imbalance with with the sand that that's added but until they can explain it just
seems like they're saying it's more and more of a bad thing is somehow going to
be a good thing it's just it's clear that it destroys the beaches but it
doesn't seem to be protecting the tracks very well. And if we see liquefaction,
that will be further proof that rip-rap is a failure. But Okta must realize
that they need to remove every rock that they've added its pollution that they're
going to be liable to remove. So that's going to hit their bottom line and we
need to insist that they are liable for removing this stuff. Thank you.
Thank you. Next Kiernan McGuire and then Sue Griesbach. Kiernan McGuire.
Thank you commissioners for your service to our state. I'm Kiernan McGuire with
Save Our Beaches, San Clemente. I'm a San Clemente resident for the last seven
years and I hope that I'll see my last sunset with my son who lives for the
beach on our beautiful beaches. As somebody else recently said until
recently you could walk from the pier south to Trestles,
it's heartbreaking that riprap placement
and resulting sand loss has made that impossible.
But it's downright terrifying to imagine OCTA
could be allowed to continue loading rocks
onto our beaches towards the pier,
knowing what will happen if they do.
They know rock is not a real solution.
In 2024, the OCTA's own board member
questioned their riprap emphasis and missing sand plan.
It's 2026 and now their September report identifies sand
as the essential first line of protection
to dissipitate wave energy.
Well, we're glad they've gotten the memo,
but as others have noted,
for years, OCTA has talked about sand replenishment.
Where is the sand?
Where are their commitments?
I attended a recent OCTA hearing
where they said their focus was their rail, not our beaches.
Huh, thanks guys.
They are essentially sacrificing our beaches
as a near-term solution
without even solving the problem of the rail's resilience.
That's lazy, it's wasteful,
and it's unacceptable.
This persistent pattern by OCTA
to continue to use emergency actions
without commitments for sand replenishment
can't be allowed to continue unchecked.
I beseech you to pursue your mandate to protect our coast
and specifically to require OCTA
to publicly disclose their plans and their performance
to put the sand in place before dumping more rocks
on our beautiful beaches which anchor our way of life
and the economic engine of our town.
Thank you.
Thank you. Sue Greesbock.
Yeah, hi commissioners. Thanks. My name is Sue Greesbock. I'm a resident of St. Clemente and I'm
just a regular user of the beach. I go swimming, I go walking along in the beach, I go boogie
boarding, I'm a sailor. So, and I'm not particularly well versed on all the issues that are before you
guys but clearly the rock armoring is a short-term fix that the OCTA is really in need of and I get
that but I also think that there are some there's long-term strategies that we could also be doing
that would help support our coastline and those are you know you guys are between a rock and a
hard place so kudos to you for all you're doing it's difficult to try and balance these the you
you know, basically the economy of San Clemente versus the OCTA, so I want you to keep that
in mind. Consider the loss of the southern Caledesh beaches in San Clemente in particular.
Consider what that does to the economy of San Clemente. We've seen this before in other
communities and it would have a huge effect. It will have a huge effect throughout the
the next coming decade or so or more or less,
when we no longer have a harbor,
we no longer have, sorry, we won't fit another harbor,
that can't, a repeat of Dana Point can happen,
but we won't have a wharf,
we won't have beachfront hotel,
we won't have restaurants,
and we certainly won't have
recreation-based water activities.
So the rock armoring suits the OCTA,
but it does not suit the needs or the desires
of that San Centrumini community
and the economy here locally.
this community will be a rest stop for people along the I-5 freeway.
And that's about it. So anyway, I really urge you to hold these emergency permits, you know,
to their deadline. They're considered a true emergency permit. And don't use, don't allow
the OCTA to use these emergency permits as a permanent solution. So thanks for all you're
doing. I really appreciate it and good luck to you. Thanks. Thank you. Coming back to names that we
weren't able to find. We just had a Chase Metcalf who we weren't able to find on Zoom that was
signed up to speak. Chase, if you are in on Zoom, please raise your hand. And then also we also had
someone signed up under the name Shane Hirshman, but you were signed up as available for questions,
but it seems like that might be a mistake. So I see your hand raised now. Shane Hirshman,
you're being moved in. All right, Shane. When you're able to unmute, go ahead.
Going to the other screen. Sorry about that. Yeah, hi. I'm Shane Hirshman,
a resident of San Clemente and community organizer. My comments address the OCTA emergency
permit reported under item 15 and the oversight needed to protect San Clemente beaches and public
access. As a resident living besides the affected beaches, Linda Lane and Mariposa, I've observed
the latter suffer the most from erosion, landslides, and disappearances of beach spaces. On some days,
I can't even lay a beach towel down, because sand is so scarce, and I'm unable to walk from the full
stretch all the way over to Cypress Shores, and I've watched the condition worsen since our last
successful sand dump. I'm especially worried about the incoming El Nino because sand replenishment
has not begun on an expedited schedule. With California under state of emergency we as residents
should have already seen sand being gathered and placed yet that has not occurred. We are losing
vital time ready to get our beaches ready for the 2028 Olympics. San Clemente is a coastal
town that depends on sand economically, environmentally, and recreationally.
Riprap and rocks are detrimental to maintaining our beach buffers
to homes and rail lines. We all know we don't get our sand naturally anymore from
nearby creeks, so sand replenishment is the most practical way forward to return
our beaches to our most unstable usable state. I want to see OCTA rail lines protected, of course,
and rail transit is essential to our economy, but we just need a more sand-centric approach.
OCTA acknowledges sand as the first line of protection because it dissipates wave energy.
Yet this permit documents overtopping riprap movement and ballast erosion. While it allows more
rock, so anyways I'd like to request this of the Coastal Commission please let's have enforceable
milestones remaining for sand prerequisites, meaningful mitigation for armoring impacts
with monitoring and enforcement. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm still not seeing Chase Metcalf.
Chase, if you're there. And then I'll also note that we do have two people signed up as
applicants representatives, but we aren't seeing them on Zoom. David Bornasian and Anahid Sargsyan.
Okay.
And Anahi, it looks like you're under the name AS and available for questions.
We'll have you ready in case there are questions.
And no more speakers.
Great.
Thank you very much.
And to the public, thank you so much for being here and sharing your testimony.
I'll turn it over, Mr. Schwing, if you'd like to respond before I return to the Commission.
Yeah, that sounds good.
We also appreciate the comments that we received today.
We're hearing a lot of the concerns that staff share as well
and I think what we're hearing here is a preview of
our upcoming hearing on the
OCTA's follow-up application for
This work that's you know under the emergency permit
I just do have some initial comments and then we can turn to comments from the Commission
So this the ECTP authorizes placement of rock
Within the right-of-way, which is generally 50 feet from the center line of the tracks
With some conservative upper bounds that allow OCTA operational flexibility to respond
To quickly moving conditions to avoid threats to the railroad and its operation
OCTA proposed and the ecdp requires
That the rock restacked replaced is limited to the minimum amount necessary to protect the railroad
it does not authorize the kind of engineered revetment that was shown by one of the speakers,
which OCTA has said is not feasible for them to construct in an emergency situation due to
the need for equipment on the beach. Regarding the sand placement, OCTA has made significant
progress in securing sand sources, the follow-up for any impacts from the work conducted under that
the emergency CDP and from all work since 2021 including proposed 690,000 cubic yards
of sand placement will all be addressed in the CDP that will likely be presented to
the commission in November. So with that I'll conclude my comments and we're available for
questions. Okay thank you very much. So I'm have a list over here I will turn to my colleagues and
begin with Commissioner Preciado. I guess one of the one of the
opportunities we have is to hear and take the input from the public seriously
but I suspect that as it has been mentioned already if we don't proceed
with this emergency permit we may have action by maybe the governor or others
who will demand that this be a safe track that should do whatever it can to
not derail or be safe for passengers and stuff. So I don't think anybody in this
room is unaware of the science related to sand or unaware of what these things
do, but on the other hand, the operation of this track seems to also be a
consideration, and so I'm just wondering what would be the effect of not
approving an emergency permit. Do they have an appeal? Do they go to another
agency? Do they call God? Who do they call? Thanks, Commissioner Preciado. So just to
To be very, very clear, those emergency permits have already been issued.
Those are done under my authority, and we report them out to you at the Commission hearing.
So our emergency permit process is done at a staff level and reported out, and then again,
there's a requirement to do a follow-on CDP, and that will come back to you for a decision
in the future.
And that's the one that's expected in the November meeting or a future meeting?
So the one that we are hoping to bring to you in November
includes follow-on permits for several
of the emergency permits that we've issued over the years,
as you heard, I think, spoken up today.
So, well, I appreciate that, and it wasn't a setup.
I wasn't trying to get you to share
what you've already done administratively,
but there seems to be also, from the public testimony,
that sand is readily available, I guess it's available at some quarries somebody owns and
so I don't think any agency wakes up in the morning and says how can I be nefarious and
do harm.
What has been the impediment to bringing sand in and what has been the explanation, I know
I know we have a speaker from the applicants available.
But I'm just wondering what is,
and by the way, given the extraordinary impacts
we're having from nature, I don't know that even that
may meet everyone's goals or expectations,
but I am interested in understanding better
about the sand that we heard today.
So how much time do you have?
So it's a very long and complicated answer, I think,
as to why it has taken a while to figure out
how to get sand on the beach.
There's multiple agencies involved.
Finding sand that's appropriate, what sources,
what are the methods to move it, what
are the impacts associated.
So it is a complex project to undertake.
And I think, in this case, we have a transportation agency
that has been tasked with essentially getting
into the sand business.
So I think there's a little bit of a learning curve there.
And there's limited sand.
Sand is a limited resource.
And so we all need to be thinking about that too.
It may not, as you point out,
Commissioner Preciado, be a permanent solution
or solve everybody's problems here,
but it's an incredibly important interim
and hopefully longer term solution.
We just, we're gonna have to study it.
And that's part of what we're gonna be
asking these permits.
I appreciate the executive director's response.
Thank you very much, and Commissioner Escalante.
Thank you, Chair.
I kind of just want to go broad back again
to the deputy director's report, since this is, you know,
San Clemente's piece of it and the rail track.
But you guys were showing pictures of homes up and down
the region being incredibly impacted.
And obviously, we're anticipating even more
during the season.
And it's sort of a peek into what our future is going
to bring with climate change.
What I have gathered looking from far away since I'm now,
I have the luxury to that right now from the North Coast,
is that there is a very fundamental and basic
misunderstanding of how beaches are created,
especially in Southern California,
in Southern California, how erosion is what feet said, how these walls and these
revetments and these obstacles to this process is really what's destroying this
beach is. There will be, there's not enough sand, enough human power yet, enough
energy for us to be able to block off the Pacific Ocean from taking these
resources when it decides to do that with an incredible force. So seeing a
lot of the interviews from the public and in the news, I noticed quite a bit of
it because it seemed like it's the fault of the local government, it's the
fault of state government for not armoring and protecting all of this
private property. So that's fundamentally a serious concern because as we this
advances it's only going to be more reactive and less willingness to learn.
So whoever's out there, I mean I'm trying to do that even with like my
friends who are lifelong environmentalists who love the beach, are huge advocates, they
don't understand, oftentimes if they're not from here they don't understand what the processes
of the beach making and protection are so I think that's a huge public education gap.
Second is, you know, I've been in this commission now for what, eight years and same conversation
we've been having all along and all I've seen up until this point of now reactionary has
been an unwillingness to really, you know, accept the reality of that this was going
to happen. And, and really pushing back on any attempts of having conversations about
managed retreat, every single sort of go at it has been, you know, one step forward, a
few steps back. There's been enormous reluctance. And I think everybody sort of needs to recognize
that up until this point, every single interest on that beach front has not wanted to have
a conversation about how to really deal with these issues without encumbering the entire
state and taxpayers to solve this, to be the solution to their problem.
So how to solve this, I mean, obviously, this is going to pressure the commission and the
staff to a breaking point, because this is, I mean, how many of these emergency permits
Are you going to be able to look at to manage as I was sort of trying to get to with the enforcement report?
I mean there's gonna sort of reach a time where people are just gonna like be ignoring whatever the state law is and just gonna
Be throwing rock and throwing cement at these things and doing their own thing trying to save their their property
so I'm very concerned about all of these things coming together and
How that will also damage the reputation of this agency?
it will sort of misconstrue what we have been trying to lead all along, which is, you know, safer beaches, safer
coasts for everyone, including those who live on it. So I guess lastly, as aside from sort of me venting about, you know,
eight years of sort of sticking our heads in the sand and now reacting to emergencies is,
I hope that we're having conversations with the natural. I know there's a lot of sort of conversations happening,
But in terms of how it's really, you know, the commission is going to be empowered to deal with this, have the staff to deal with it, you know, and be able to sort of work out what the long-term solution is and actually pressure the local governments to revisit their, you know, how their policy approach to how to safely manage that retreat that we're going to have to do no matter what.
In certain areas I'm not saying all over the state, but I know that there's some pinch points that are very very difficult to deal
With anyway, thank you
Thank You commissioner Jackson
Thank You madam chair, I I guess we're gonna discuss
Sand extensively next month. It sounds like
Well, we also discussed the 30 feet versus 50 feet that we heard about this afternoon
I guess that's all be overcome by events now because they're putting it in
So the emergency permit that was issued to OCTA is is looking forward if there is a need so it doesn't
Authorize 50 feet everywhere of rock it basically if there is a need that's identified
Then they have the ability to restack or place the limited amount of rock and the 50 feet is there is the right of way
So that's that's where that number comes from
That's generally how far it goes from then I think the center line of the of the track
so it doesn't mean there's going to be 50 feet of rock all up and down the stretch, but that was sort of the maximum amount.
They have to, they are only authorized to place the minimum amount of rock necessary to treat the specific problem.
So I think it's, you know, well, and then report out to us. Thank you.
And I guess I have a
broader philosophical
policy question, at what point
Does the word emergency
Become an indefinite permitting mechanism for something that's foreseeable and has been studied for years
That's part of this long-term
Coastal erosion program. So I mean it's been five plus years. So
Are we gonna get everything we've been asking you for next month?
And is that going to end the emergency?
You know, it's kind of like my kid says his emergency all the time and you know what what's really an emergency
Is this a 911 or is this a you know again? I if we know it's coming. We've been talking about it for five years
It's foreseeable. How is it an emergency?
And I appreciate the caveman video for my Florida education. I
Could even understand that so I think just through the chair
Thanks for those comments commissioner. I I found out this is something that OCTA has been studying for a number of years
They recently completed a resilience study that looks at resilience of the track in these whole areas
Are it's our in several areas that are particularly vulnerable?
And so I think the the hope is with the permits coming forward those will address
more permanent solutions for those
really problematic spots
Do we wish this had come faster to us? Yes, of course we do
But we're not in control of when these items, you know when we get applications and complete information
We're trying to bring this to you as quickly as possible including we've just received
Information on these projects as as early, you know, I guess a couple weeks ago
I think we got our final piece of information. So we're rushing to get to hearing because we know how important it is
And and I appreciate that because they're they're putting you in a hard spot
I mean understanding the importance of this line
But using an emergency declaration, it's almost like a national security declaration to build an arch, sort of sounds like to me.
So, you know, it's just getting through the back door with they're not getting through the front door.
And that's my concern is, you know, five plus years, what's your real plan and what's your real strategy?
And let's use that as a start point moving forward.
And if you're going to ask for something, you got to give, you know, five years you haven't figured out if we can get sand in there or not.
and so I'm relatively new.
I don't quite have the expertise as my colleague, Linda,
but that's my big concern.
Understanding that this emergency permit
is already moving down the tracks.
And I guess we'll have a broader discussion next month.
So thank you.
I will point out that for every emergency permit
we receive, we do take a look at everyone
and verify that we agree it is an emergency.
So in other words that we think there's imminent potential
for damage to life or property, that's the standard under which we look at emergency
permits so we are required to do that and we do that every single time.
And we really want OCTA, local governments and everyone to get serious about their planning.
This is one of the reasons that we have, we had SB 272 that was passed requiring local
governments to update their LCPs and then other agencies like OCTA who need to do this
kind of work.
keep pushing these these studies to look at long-term resilience and really, you know needing to get those done quickly
And I think these kinds of events
probably
provide a little bit of the kick in the pants so to speak to some of those agencies to you know kick start that work if
it isn't already started, but
honestly, that's you know to your comments earlier Commissioner Escalante the the educational pieces part of it
But also an urgency to this longer-term planning and thinking through what hard decisions
communities need to make
To be resilient to seal over eyes so that we still have beaches and we still have these kind of vibrant coastal communities with all
The things that we enjoy now
And if we don't do the planning we won't have that in the future in many many spots up and down the coast
So I think trying to you, you know, I we've been trying to get education
you know, pieces out into the public through various ways, you know, on our, to the extent
that we can. But you know, that includes trying to get the word out through our website and
social media and all the just to educate to your point and doing that in this within the
state as well, so that folks understand what what's at risk and, and really get a sense
of urgency around the planning piece, which is not as sexy as the permitting piece sometimes,
it it's just if not more important if we are actually going to persevere into
the future here so I share everyone's first frustration and and you know we
are definitely moving you know trying to bring this forward to you that those
CTA piece quickly because of the import and the urgency and we're hopeful it
will at least be a first piece but it's not going to be the last so if I can
Let me just put a bow on this.
So back to Commissioner Preciado's question about,
there's no inability, there's no ability to say no to this
because the train has left the station.
That's correct.
But next month is a different animal, different ball game.
Right?
That's correct.
Our range of options will vary
and we will have the opportunity to weigh in
and impose some or at least have a broader range of options?
That's correct.
Okay. Thank you.
Commissioner Kelly.
What's the governance structure of this rail authority?
Is it a publicly elected board that oversees this agency?
I think it might be, I mean, it is a public entity.
I'm not exactly sure of the governing structure.
Maybe a JPA, Joint Powers Authority.
I guess my question is, yes, there might be some rail
and transit people on the board who might know.
The commission, what has our direct communication been,
if any at all, with their governing board of directors?
I kind of feel like we're in an echo chamber here
and that it's like Groundhog's Day every time we talk
about the revetment and the rail and what's happening.
And I worry that these conversations are not getting
to the folks, the level of urgency and our frustration
is not reaching the people who could potentially
start maneuvering in bigger ways to try to get
some of that resilience stuff in motion
sooner rather than later.
I think that's a great observation.
We don't have direct communication with the board.
We work with the staff and when that works well,
It's it can be effective and we're reporting out to our boards and commissions and when it's not working
Well, it doesn't and I hear it's been a little rocky at times. We're working pretty well together right now
But I but we don't have direct communication with their board
So I think it's a that's an excellent observation and maybe something to think about
How to and by no means am I suggesting that the staff to staff?
Dialogue is not going well. I think to Commissioner Escalante's comment earlier about
the lack of public understanding of what some of these let's throw rocks at this solution
and see if it's going to give us the long-term resilience we're looking for.
I don't purport to know what the level of understanding is of some of the folks who
are sitting there making go-no-go decisions on some of their planning efforts, but I will
say that they probably represent constituencies and they're balancing which projects are reprioritizing
for which need, and I think it could be helpful for us to in some way, whether it's chair
to chair or having some sort of, you know, diplomacy effort, but I do think that it feels
as though it's coming to a head.
I sense some frustration from my colleagues on this because it just feels like to Commissioner
Jackson's point, at what point is it no longer an emergency, and I think that the emergencies
are actually going to continue the potential damage
and the imminent potential damage to property
and what that represents, there's no doubt
that it is going to get worse.
We may have good years,
but I don't imagine the science is wrong.
And so I think really figuring out
how do we motivate the public to then motivate their electeds
to then come up with a better solution
around prioritizing the resilience projects
need to happen. To me, I just think it might be a different strategy, because it feels
like the current one isn't working.
Commissioner Lopez.
Yeah, I'll be brief. I think this is a special district, but they are all elected officials
who serve on it. So it's not a Joint Powers Authority. It was a combination piece of legislation,
I think, put together in the early 90s that created this board. And I just want to share
a little perspective, I think, from that hat. And it would be that if this board chose to
to do the right thing, in my opinion, which is to strategically retreat from this particular
piece of line.
The process for them to identify where they're going to go, I think about the high speed
rail through the Central Valley, where you're dealing with very few landowners because they
are primarily large farmers, and instead dealing with all the piecemeal folks you would have
to eminent domain in the process to realign that move, that's probably a 20-year process
in itself.
And so to me, I'm okay with this knowing that inevitably it's going to happen, a question
of when.
I want to see it happen sooner rather than later, but do I think that's going to happen
in the next five or 10 years given the reality of what it is, what it takes under CEQA and
other permitting requirements to move any piece of infrastructure in this state?
No.
So I appreciate the frustration.
I share the frustration and I agree I want to see us push that gas pedal a little bit
to the extent that we can help be that catalyst to start them thinking about where that line
should go and assist them in hopefully moving party legislation as has been done for things
like the high speed rail to be able to align that sooner rather than later.
But I want to just echo the frustration and align myself with the comments of my colleagues.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I think this has been a really good conversation and looking forward to more in November.
With that, I will ask if three or more members have any objection to any item in the Deputy
Director's Report.
Seeing no objection, the commission concurs.
And thank you again to the public for your testimony.
Okay.
We will continue on, please.
Item 16A.
Thank you.
Yes, we are on item 16A.
And Emily Zavosubin with our Long Beach office is going to do the staff presentation.
We should have a staff PowerPoint if you could bring that up and Emily, when you're ready,
please begin.
Thank you, Carl.
Good afternoon, commissioners.
Item 16a is a coastal development permit application to replace two existing nonfunctional culverts,
install a new third culvert and construct a usage drainage channel spanning all three
culverts and beyond all within the railroad right of way at the toe of a coastal bluff within the
city of San Clemente. The proposed project also includes installation of new riprap at the three
culvert outlets and the implementation of a maintenance plan that would keep the culverts
and euditch clear of debris and increase opportunities for placement of sand on the
beach in this area. The proposed project is located at mile post 206.13 in the southern portion of the
City. The applicant is Southern California Regional Rail Authority also known as SCRRA or Metrolink.
Next slide please. The two culverts proposed to be replaced are two feet wide and currently
buried. The replacement culverts will be a corrugated metal pipe and will be approximately
two feet wide by 50 and 51 feet long. The new third culvert will be a reinforced concrete box
culvert that is approximately three feet wide, two feet high, and 40 feet long. The proposed
This proposed yudich will be a concrete drainage channel constructed between the existing K-rails and the toe of the coastal bluff.
It will be approximately 6 feet wide, 4 to 4.5 feet high, and 640 feet long.
Erosion from the bluffs above the track yields significant amounts of sediment that have affected the tracks.
Currently, the sediment from the adjacent bluff has been topping over the tracks causing sediment buildup and water ponding
that is negatively affecting the track structure by deteriorating the ties and impeding drainage.
Therefore, the proposed project seeks to reestablish the drainage patterns and restore natural
sediment transport away from the tracks and towards the beach by channeling runoff and
sediment through the proposed euditch and culverts.
According to Metrolink, the existing drainage in this area can generate a sediment volume
of up to approximately 116 cubic yards annually.
The proposed culverts are designed to be self-flushing and Metrolink estimates that up to 78 cubic
yards of the 116 cubic yards of sediment to pass through the culverts annually through passive
transport. Over time, the sand and sediment originating from the adjacent bluffs are expected
to accumulate within the concrete u-ditch and culverts. To maintain drainage flow, maintenance
crews will remove the material and repurpose it for beneficial reuse on the revetment or beachside
area as a part of natural beach nourishment efforts. Metrolink estimates that approximately
38 cubic yards of the 116 cubic yards of sediment could be captured within the euditch annually.
Mentralink is proposing to implement a maintenance plan that if the sediment is determined to be beach
compatible will require the transport of sand that accumulates in the eudition culverts to the beach
on the seaward side of the tracks. The proposed project also includes removal of approximately
500 cubic yards of existing sediment in riprap, an installation of approximately 700 cubic yards
of new riprap and 240 cubic yards of new bedding material at the three culvert outlets.
Next slide please. One of the primary issues raised by the proposed project is whether the
proposed riprap, which could act as a shoreline protective device, is consistent with the coastal
hazards policies of the Coastal Act and the City of San Clemente certified LUP. Shoreline
protective devices tend to conflict with Chapter 3 policies because armoring can have a variety of
adverse impacts on coastal resources, including sand supply, public access, natural landforms,
and overall shoreline beach dynamics on and off site. Section 30235 of the Coastal Act authorizes
protective devices that are otherwise inconsistent with Chapter 3 policies, if necessary to protect
existing structures in danger from erosion, and where impacts to shoreline sand supply
have been eliminated or mitigated. Here, staff has concluded that the proposed protective devices
are provable as the least environmentally damaging feasible alternative and that adequate
mitigation is provided as conditioned. Next slide please. Other coastal resource concerns
are potential impacts to biological resources, archaeological and tribal cultural resources,
water quality and marine resources, public access and visual resources. These issues are addressed
in the staff report and through conditions and staff can provide additional information on these
topics if there are questions. Next slide please. Prior to publication of the staff report, staff
received multiple comment letters from Save Our Beaches San Clemente, Surf Rider, and other members
of the public. The primary concerns raised by Save Our Beaches and other commenters include
the belief that the proposed structures are over-designed, that the structures would impact
lateral access along the beach and may create public safety hazards, that the applicant has
not demonstrated a need for the project, that annual rather than as needed sediment maintenance
should be pursued and that the project does not include adequate mitigation for coastal resource
impacts. Safer beaches states that the proposed culverts would extend approximately 50 feet onto
the dry sandy beach compared to nearby culverts that extend only 15 to 25 feet from the seaward
side of the rail and expresses concern that this additional extension could block lateral access
for pedestrians and lifeguards during high tides and extreme tide events such as king tides and
during periods of low sand levels. While the concerns about the exposure of the proposed
energy dissipator at the box culvert during periods of low sand levels is warranted and one
that commission staff have discussed with Metrolink, the images provided with Save Our Beaches July 27th
letter seem to exhibit a misunderstanding of the project design. While the two-foot-wide culverts
shown here within the yellow boxes are approximately 50 feet long, they would begin on the inland side
of the railroad tracks and would extend approximately 30 feet seaward from the center line of the tracks
entirely within the existing riprap limits.
As proposed, the culvert energy dissipator
for the furthest up coast culvert
would extend an additional approximately nine feet
beyond the outfall and onto the sandy beach.
Whereas the furthest down coast energy dissipator
would not extend onto the sandy beach.
Additional riprap is proposed
up to the edge of the railroad right of way
along each culvert,
in line with the buried portion
of the adjacent riprap preventment,
about 50 feet from the track center line.
But this riprap would be buried
approximate elevations of 9.25 feet nav D88 to 12.25 feet nav D88 and would only become exposed
during periods of very low sand levels. The box culvert shown here within the blue box would
extend approximately 33 feet from the track center line within the existing riprap footprint.
The energy dissipator located at approximately 14 to 15 feet nav D88 was initially proposed as
a flat feature extending 13 feet seaward from the rock slope protection. Although designed to match
existing beach elevations, the dissipator's rock platform could likely become exposed when sand
levels drop, creating a substantial barrier to lateral access during high tides. After discussions
with commission staff, Metrolink evaluated options to reduce the structure's seabird extent and
elevation. Ultimately, Metrolink concluded that the dissipator could be redesigned so that the outermost
five feet of the 13-foot structure could be constructed at a two to one slope rather than
at grade with the original beach elevations. This modification would increase the likelihood
of sand cover under varying seasonal sand conditions, as Metrolink also expects that
sediment passing through the self-flushing box culvert will periodically bury the dissipator
structure. While State Parks operations are already constrained occasionally during periods
of high surf and orchine tides, the currently proposed design with anticipated sediment delivery
should avoid or minimize public access impacts from the project.
To further ensure that the seaward extensions beyond the existing rock slope
protection do not inhibit the operation of State Parks lifeguard vehicles
or block lateral access during average wave and tidal conditions,
Special Condition 10 requires Metrolink to coordinate with State Parks
and the City of San Clemente to cover any exposed portions of the energy
dissipators with beach sand. Safer Beaches also raises concerns that
the phrasing of up to a certain quantity of sand with
regard to mitigation would mean that the project proponent will be in complete compliance if zero
grains of sand are placed on the beach and that the proposed permit as written does not require
any mitigation for coastal resource impacts. With respect to mitigation concerns raised by the
commenters, given the design of the culverts including the self-flushing box culvert,
it is highly unlikely that zero sediment would reach the beach. Even if annual sediment delivery
is somewhat lower than the applicant's estimate, the combination of passive sediment transport
and routine maintenance is expected to adequately mitigate the limited impacts associated with the
relatively small rip-rap segments along the culverts. The primary benefit of the system is
that it is designed and intended to reliably deliver sediment to the beach over time.
Next slide please. In conclusion, staff is recommending approval of the subject's CDP
application with 12 special conditions. The applicant has stated that they're in agreement
with the special conditions. Staff would note that there is an addendum to this item making
some minor revisions and corrections to the staff report, which was posted with this item on the
commission's website. The motion and resolution can be found on page six of the staff report.
This concludes staff presentation and staff is available for questions. Great. Thank you very
much. All right. Are there any ex partes? Seeing none, I will open the public hearing and turn it
over to you, Chris and Simone. Thank you. I'll just note first that we have three speakers
Available for questions who are with the applicants and either representatives or the applicant
Then we have three speakers in person Mitch Silverstein Wendy Morris and then Susie white law, but Mitch Silverstein
Thanks, great sourcing with Surfrideric Foundation
We provided a couple rounds of comments on this project our concerns were over our over loss of beach to the footprint of the culverts
And associated armoring these culverts built underneath the railroad should help sediment reach the beach from bluff erosion
That's been otherwise blocked off by the rail in that respect the project may help the beach
And I appreciate staff's work to minimize the armoring footprint
What concerned us was the finding that because the culverts would help otherwise block sand reach the beach the project would be self
Mitigating for the negative impacts of the armoring footprint our skepticism turned out to be justified SCRA originally claimed
The culverts would bring up to two thousand one hundred cubic yards of sand to the shore per year
Then issued a correction that the real figure is only 116 roughly 18 times less
My understanding is that the cubic feet at cubic feet were reported as cubic yards
The moral of this story is that numbers that applicants provide cannot be taken on faith
I appreciate that the reporting requirements have been strengthened and we'd ask for one thing more that just not to wait the full 20 years
To verify the passive sediment delivery this offset depends on staff acknowledge the estimate can be made
It should be made at an interim point like 10 years
Not only at the end of the permit term the original permit was for 10 years the applicant requested 20
Finally the footprint of these culverts is overshadowed by the growing emergency armoring destroying this entire stretch of beach and creeping towards these culverts
OCT just received another emergency permit for 15,000 more tons of boulders just south of here and that's the real threat
This project at least moves sand toward the shore versus armoring that buries it while the rail remains
Every feasible effort should go towards restoring the sand supply this beach has been denied
rather than wallowing the beach off and toward the managed relocation of a quarter
that has zero long-term viability in its current location, there's no holding
back the Pacific Ocean. It's also ironic that the low state low sand working
group is meeting today and that surf rider we just were accepted as a non-
agency environmental stakeholder. I know I'm going a little off the rails here, no
pun intended, but if the Commission, I know the Commission has a seat on there
too, we should really make sure they're not meeting at the same exact time we're
Discussing low sand projects here. Thank you. Thank you, Wendy Morris
Hi, my name is Wendy Morris the resident of San Clemente. Could you please pull up pull the mic down?
I'm not representing any particular group at the moment. I'm just wanted to make a comment because I live very close to this
proposed
Project and I will say that I don't think it's really
Very necessary. Yes, it might help a little bit of bringing more sand to the beach and that's what I'm very happy to have
but I think the original plan which evidently has been changed now, which I'm very happy about, was way overbuilt.
It wasn't that necessity and
the other item I was concerned about was the amount of riprap that was going to be placed on the beach side of the
tracks and looks like that has been changed also. So I
looks like you guys have kind of settled my objections to it and just hopefully that
the runoff area has will be covered with
More sand when necessary and the correct amount of sand. Thank you
Thank you, Susie Whitelaw
Hi, I had a presentation I
Want to really thank the the coastal staff with us Emily Greer formerly not as Emily Greer
Zevuvosan
Has done a really great job of getting us all
Communicating with us some of this presentation is kind of out of date because I really wasn't prepared for this today
But just to show you
What storm drains do look like along this?
the stretch of beach
They all are well right up next to the railroad. They don't extend out from the railroad next slide
And so the original design was up above the red ones where they would extend out into
Past the dry sand. This is back in July when we had really high tides when these drones photos were taken
The bottom one shows a really high by miss it
Have handles about a thousand times more water than these storm drains would and it's it's a really low profile
next slide I really appreciate that they've you've gotten them to redesign it and
Just I wanted to show you what my issue was. This is a photo from 4th of July
You can see it's a really popular beach and there's no place for anybody to put their umbrellas
they're all up in one line and that's because we had really high tides and
All that empty beach there it's left for the lifeguards so they can get their vehicles back and forth
And so they coordinate off and that's the area that I was really concerned about they were going to build out
Riprap into that area so that the state parks lifeguards wouldn't be able to get their vehicles in and out next slide
So I'm really glad that the design has changed. I'm really glad that if because it's
It shows here the summer berm and the winter berm and in the winter berm
It goes down really low and it would have been exposed in the winter not necessarily in the summer
But if they are if it gets exposed and they have to actually bring it back up to that grade
That's a lot of sand
That's not a little dusting of sand on top to bring it back up to grade
and I hope that we are going to hold them to that and I know I'll hold them to that
because that's my beach and I go there every day. Thanks.
Thank you. No more speakers.
Great. Thank you very much. Thank you to the public. Okay. With that, I will close the
public hearing and ask our staff if they have any further thoughts.
I would just note that some of the graphics shown are not accurate.
You should look at what is in the staff report and the staff report exhibits with regard
to that design.
And I think we're just available for questions.
Thanks.
Great.
Thank you very much.
I'll return to the commission.
Comments?
Questions?
A motion?
Vice Chair Hart.
I move the commission approved coastal development permit number five dash twenty three dash zero two three seven pursuant to the staff
recommendation as for yes vote
Thank you. That's a motion by vice-chair Hart a second by Commissioner Preciado any objections to unanimous consent
Seeing none the motion carries
Okay, great. Thank you. I think we're done for the day. I believe we have minutes and a conservancy report
Okay, we're not done for the day. Just kidding
Okay. We'll take the minutes. I'm not seeing any minutes. I actually am not seeing any.
No minutes today. No minutes. I don't have a conservancy report to make. So I think we're
going to go with we're done for the day. If not, we'll do it tomorrow. But I think we
are going to do closed sessions. So commissioners, if you need a minute, take a very quick break
and come back in here, please. Thank you.