Pierpont Beach Sand Management Plan
Questions and Answers
Q. Who was involved in the development of the proposed Sand Management Plan?
A. The California Coastal Commission and the State Parks Department in coordination with the City developed the Sand Management Plan. The Sand Management Plan is a scientific report prepared by expert biologists on how best to create a beach environment that recognizes the proximity of homes to the existing beach ecology, and recommends solutions to encroaching sand problems. Now is the appropriate time to include the public in the process in the development of the Plan. The public workshop on March 4th, the City Council meeting to discuss Pierpont Beach policies on March 10th, and the anticipated public hearing to approve the Coastal Development Permit and Sand Management Plan sometime in April are all opportunities for the public to be involved.
Q. Who is physically responsible for & pays for the costs related to the beach sand excavation and the dune planting in each Unit and in front of the lanes?
A. Property owners would be responsible for the costs related to sand excavation and dune planting in front of their homes, should they choose to do the work. The City is responsible for public access in front of the Lanes and sand removal at that location to provide access to the beach. The City's work can only be done once a Coastal Permit is approved and is dependent upon available funding.
Q. If the City owns the public street property (Shore Drive that used to run along the lanes on the beach), why would residents have to shoulder the costs, and assume the responsibility for maintaining the beach and of course the liability for that area as well? Could Shore Drive be reopened as a public Street?
A. Shore Drive remains a public street with buried utilities. The City has designed and constructed improvements that do not allow for vehicles within the Shore Drive right-of-way, and the piling up of sand over this area does not impact the City's ability to operate and maintain the utilities. Since Shore Drive is no longer used as a public street, the City has no responsibility, financial or otherwise, to clear this area and level the dunes for use as a public street. The City has never maintained this area as a separate City beach, but instead has considered Shore Drive as a part of the adjacent State owned San Buenaventura State Beach.
Owners of private property impacted by sand encroachment from the beach are not required to remove this sand, however, if they choose to, then they must follow the appropriate permits and requirements to do so. With this choice comes the responsibility to pay for the work as well as other requirements under any permits needed.
The work that would be required to return Shore Drive to a public street would be more than maintenance and a Coastal Development Permit would be required. It would also be impossible to excavate the sand off the old road without encroaching onto State Parks property.
Q. Is the Sand Management Plan eligible for any grants?
A. The work proposed in the Plan is eligible for grants; however, in the past, there have not been many opportunities to obtain grants for a stand-alone dune and beach restoration project.
Q. Who decides and under what regulations can an emergency be declared so that sand impacted residents can immediately move sand away from their property instead of waiting for the Sand Management Plan to be approved under a Coastal Development Permit?
A. The Coastal Act (Section 30624) provides for the issuance of an emergency Coastal Development Permit (CDP) to allow work in response to an emergency to proceed more expeditiously than the normal CDP process would allow. Section 13009 provides the definition of "emergency" and Sections 13136 through 13143 (all found in Title 14, Division 5.5 of the California Code of Regulations) give the requirements for the issuance of emergency permits. The certified City of Ventura Local Coastal Program (Section Sec. 24.515.090 of the City's Municipal Code) covers the procedures and approvals necessary for emergency coastal permits.
The City's Community Development Director may waive the requirements of obtaining an Administrative Coastal Development Permit or a Coastal Development Permit and issue an emergency coastal permit for development required by a sudden, unexpected occurrence which demands immediate action to prevent or mitigate loss or damage to life, health, property, or essential services. Even if an emergency exists, a coastal permit would have to be obtained after the work was complete. At this point, this permit that must be obtained after the emergency work was complete would contain all of the requirements in the current Sand Management Plan.
Q. Why can't the City clear the sand away from the walls at the ends of the Lanes and from the stairs?
A. Since the City has not used mechanical equipment on Pierpont Beach for the last fifteen years and sand accumulations at some Lanes now support dunes, the Coastal Commission will not allow dunes to be removed unless long-term recommendations for maintaining public access at the lanes as well as other sand management plans have been adopted. The proposed Sand Management Plan provides recommendations for lowering the sand on the beach side of the lanes by 3 feet as well as providing sand fencing to help stabilize the beach and reduce the amount of sand that makes it to the stairs and Lanes.
Q. Where and how do you plan to accomplish the Dune Demonstration Project if there isn't support for it among the 5 targeted beachfront homeowners? Won't the Sand Management Plan have to be modified if the Dune Demonstration Project does not move forward?
A. The work outlined in the Sand Management Plan is completely voluntary. Residents who choose to pursue removing sand from their property would be subject to the master Coastal Permit, which contains the Sand Management Plan requirements. The demonstration project is meant as an educational tool, to demonstrate the effectiveness of dunes at stabilizing sand. Lessons were also to be gained as to the on-site details of restoration, but the lack of a demonstration project does not pose a hazard to the overall goal of managing sand in an environmentally sensitive manner, as presented in the SMP. Activities proposed for the demonstration project could just as easily be applied to all of Unit 3.
Q. Has consideration been given to how the dunes will be limited in height?
A. The height of sand dunes cannot be regulated. Dune planting, which is necessary to stabilize sand dunes, continues to grow on top of sand dunes as they increase in height. To allow the dune heights to be regulated would require the removal of dune planting to lower the dunes. This would in effect destroy the sand dunes. Although dunes would continue to grow and may impact views from the homes along the beach, this would be a trade-off from the protection that the dunes provide against storms and waves as well as how they reduce the amount of sand that builds up against private walls and gets into private property.
Q. The Plan calls for excess sand to be placed on the beach in front of the homes in Unit 1 (Martha's Vineyard CT - Greenock LN). This sand is to be placed on the beach five feet above the highest high tide line. Note that in the winter the waves breach the City's retaining walls on most of these lanes and water and debris goes into the streets. Therefore highest high tide line on most of these lanes is 10+ feet onto the lanes. Does the City actually want to take sand from the lanes and the storm drains and put it back onto the lanes in Unit 1?
A. The Plan recommends parameters and locations for excess sand to be appropriately returned to the beach. The key is to keep it as sand supply in the Pierpont Beach and not haul it away. Since the beach width changes so much, the locations for acceptable excess sand will change. If Unit 1 beach is not wide enough at the time someone needs to deposit excess sand, then another location in the Pierpont area will be identified. "Highest high tide line" is meant to convey the highest high tide at that moment in time, not over the entire season and not inclusive of storm surges. The intent is to condition deposition to occur 5 feet above wet sand (highest high tide line) at the time of work.
Q. If it is necessary to change the Sand Management Plan, won't this impact the timeline because another Negative Declaration will have to be issued and another Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Plan and another public response?
A. It depends. If the Sand Management Plan were to be changed in the future, the changes would need to be reviewed to see if they were significant enough to revise the environmental document. If they were significant, then another public review of the environmental document would have to occur.
Q. Would beachgoers ultimately be restricted from traversing the dune area and be limited only to the beach between the dunes and the ocean?
A. The Sand Management Plan is intended to provide a stable beach that protects beachfront homes from sand encroachment, high surf and waves and also protects the existing dune environment. To be effective, the Plan recommends initial and on-going public education about beach dynamics and the value of stabilized dunes, that informational signage be provided and that access ways through the dunes be marked with symbolic fencing to preserve the dune ecosystem. The signage would be located at the ends of each of the existing Lanes and stairs to the beach. The dune areas will not be completely fenced off from public access, but instead public access would be encouraged only through the dunes at marked locations. Temporary fencing may be used until the dune planting is established in new areas identified for sand relocation and dune stabilization.
Q. Is Pierpont Beach Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area (ESHA) designated?
A. The City of Ventura Local Coastal Program (as certified by the Coastal Commission) does not formally designate the sand dunes at Pierpont Beach as an Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area or ESHA (which is an area that is defined by and given protective status in the Local Coastal Program and the Coastal Act). Commission staff believes that the evidence regarding the biological resources present in the dune area supports an ESHA designation for the Pierpont Beach dunes and would likely recommend such a status if and/or when the matter should come before the Coastal Commission. The Commission has historically designated sand dunes, including degraded dunes, as ESHA.
Q. What is the difference between a sensitive dune ecosystem and an environmentally sensitive habitat?
A. Coastal dunes are one of the most fragile and dynamic natural landforms. Coastal dunes are a rare and threatened habitat along the entire California coastline, and are most threatened in Southern California where less than 20% of coastal dunes remain. These remaining dune ecosystems are heavily impacted by development, trampling, and invasive species. All coastal dunes in Southern California rise to the level of environmentally sensitive habitat (ESHA). Coastal dune habitats in Southern California are ESHA because both the physical dune habitat and the associated natural community are rare and easily disturbed by human activities. Coastal dunes provide nesting and shelter for several species of birds and provide habitat for such rare species as the red sand verbena, globose dune beetle, the silvery legless lizard and several species of blue butterfly (which lay eggs and feed off of specific sand dune vegetation). In addition, sand dunes provide protection for inland, low-lying areas from strong storm waves.
Q. How do the dune beetles that were found affect the environmental designation of the beach?
A. The presence of dune beetles on Pierpont Beach does not affect the environmental designation of the beach. It only means that any impacts to the dune beetles caused by sand removal or placement must be mitigated.
Q. If the legless lizard were to develop a habitat in the dunes, would this event change the environmental status of the beach?
A. The presence of the legless lizard (a State designated species of special concern) now or in the future does not change the environmental status of the beach. Extra efforts would be taken to manage the beach in a way that avoids any impacts, and in the case of unavoidable impacts, mitigations would be placed to lessen impacts.