The California Coastal Commission approved a subsidy of more than $ 1.8 million on Wednesday to cover the costs of the reference studies necessary for the re -revisioning project Re: Beach Sand of Oceanside.
The details are still under development, but the project calls for pumping approximately 900,000 cubic yards of the ocean outside the surf line on several poorly eroded blocks south of the ocean pier. The amount of sand is more than double the usual volume produced by the spring dredging of the Harbor Oceanside.
The proposed pilot project is also the construction of two promontories and an offshore artificial reef to help keep additional sand.
Total costs are expected to exceed $ 50 million and until now are largely not funded. Several permits and approvals will be necessary for the coastal commission and other local, state and federal agencies.
The work covered by the State grant approved on Wednesday includes “the completion of vulnerability assessments of climbing at sea, technical studies, economic analyzes, planning and adaptation reports, awareness and public commitment, and the development of policies (local coastal program)” before construction can begin, according to a report on the staff of the coastal committee.
The director of policies of the Surfrider Foundation, Mitch Silverstein, an Oceanside resident, told the Commission at his meeting in Santa Barbara that Surfrider supports the subsidy, but the Commission should demand that Oceanside is better in accordance with the Coast Act.
“The development of the new seafront continues to be approved and built which depends entirely on the existing RIPRAP coatings of the 1970s and 80s, despite the established policy of coastal law according to which the new development should not count on the dikes,” said Silverstein.
The rocky coatings and the dikes that line ocean beaches protect private property but contribute to the erosion of the shore.
The information gleaned by reference studies would be used for more than the only project and could help Oceanside updating its obsolete local coastal program, said the director general of the Commission, Kate Huckelbridge.
Local coastal programs, often called LCP, are approved by the coastal commission to establish directives for coastal development. The approved LCP of a city allows it to approve individual projects without further surveillance by the coastal commission unless a call is filed.
“We have a lot of LCP which are considerably obsolete,” said Huckelbridge. “We are trying to focus on starting this work and making it move forward. This is an essential first step. ”
Charlie Bowen, director of communications for the local Save Oceanside Sand group, wrote a letter to the commission urging approval.
“These tasks are vital for the continuous progress of the Re: Beach Pilot project, monitoring the implementation before and after the project and the future project scaling towards the rest of the beach,” said Bowen. “In addition, this subsidy will help the city … to obtain future financing for the restoration of beaches and housing, climate resilience and the attenuation projects of the elevator at sea level.”
The subsidy of $ 1,835,000 is available from the State Budget Act of 2021, which appropriated $ 31 million to the Coastal Commission to support its LCP local assistance grant program for climate resilience.
The Oceanside subsidy was the largest to date for allocations of 2021. So far, 16 other cities have received subsidies from $ 100,000 to $ 500,000. These include two in the County of San Diego: $ 100,000 at National City to update its local coastal program and $ 499,153 to the city of San Diego to develop a master plan for the city level, including the planned effects of the rise in sea level and climate change.
In March, the Oceanside Municipal Council voted unanimously to submit a separate request for more than $ 21 million in state subsidies for the replenishment of the Sand of the Re: Beach.
This money would come from California Department of Parks and Recreation, Division of Boating and Waterways Beach Restoration Program created in 1999.
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
