The Harbor District claims a beach nourishment solution cannot be considered for Pillar Point Harbor’s eroded West Shoreline (Mavericks) Trail due to the urgency and lack of any concurrent dredging project. The only good news is the Phase 1 project has been scaled back from 300 feet of armoring to the more limited culvert area.
The condition of the trail became urgent in 2011 when it was partially closed off at the eroded culvert. There was no effort to get permits to repair the trail and protect the 300 feet of eroded shoreline in 2012 and 2013 while the Harbor District was obtaining urgency permits to do maintenance dredging of the boat launch ramps. At CCC staff site visit in January 2012 for the dredging project, the West Trail was not visited or mentioned. The only District proposal for dredge disposal was upland on Perched Beach which furthers their plans for bulkhead/fill/development for that area.
Launch ramp dredging didn’t need to be an urgency permit situation -- it has been a regular maintenance item since the 1990’s. By leaving the easily foreseeable task until it became urgent, the District was able to coerce the permitting authority to give permission to dispose of the dredged material on Perched Beach.
Even with that District goal accomplished in mid 2013, and full knowledge of how long and complex the permitting process is, the West Trail culvert permit application was not submitted till a year later, with the note that the project must proceed ASAP regardless of wet weather construction impacts this winter (that could so easily have been avoided with pro-active planning).
There is still hope for beach nourishment, instead of hard armoring, to protect and enhance the West Shoreline Trail, but the Harbor District needs to expedite Phase 2 planning and permitting before we face an expanded emergency.
Prior post (2013) with background on the trail and erosion.
8/28/14 Coastal Commission letter re incomplete permit application
10/7/14 reply by Harbor District's engineering firm.