Thu, June 9, 2005

Half Moon Bay golf course will remove controversial seawall

By Barry Parr on Thu, June 9, 2005

This photo was taken in September 2002, before half the riprap was removed. It shows some of the problems with the seawall at the golf course. There is increased erosion on either side of the seawall. The high tide line comes up to the cliff and the boulders extend into the water, making it difficult and dangerous for the public to cross this part of the beach. Some boulders spend so much time in the water they're covered with moss. Click on the photo for a larger version if you need to see more detail.

Ocean Colony Partners has negotiated an agreement with the California Coastal Commission to remove a 270-foot seawall consisting of granite boulders (also known as "riprap"). The seawall is on the beach below the golf course’s 18th green.

According to Lisa Haage, chief of enforcement at the Coastal Commission, "This will still have to go the Commission. But work can’t begin until fall, so there will be plenty of time to plan the removal." Haage expects to have a written agreement before the Commission at its July meeting.

"I’m pleased to put this episode behind us," Bruce Russell of Ocean Colony Partners told me. "Now we can move on. It’s a much better situation."

Seawalls have many negative impacts, including increasing erosion of the beaches in front of them and of the cliffs on either side. Coastal activists have been fighting to get this one removed ever since it was put up without a Coastal Development Permit in 1998.

"During its lifetime, it was truly one of the worst seawalls in California," said the Sierra Club’s Mark Massara, "because it extended into the surf even at low tides and made lateral beach access a dangerous nightmare."

The company had fought to get the California Coastal Commission for years to keep the seawall.

In 2002, Ocean Colony Partners negotiated a consent agreement with the Coastal Commission and removed half the riprap in 2003 and 2004. OCP then applied to reinforce the remaining riprap.

OCP’s application to reinforce the seawall was scheduled to be heard by the Coastal Commission in February, but OCP withdrew its application after Commission staff recommended denying it.

Coastal Commission staff opposed keeping the remaining seawall because there was an alternative—moving the 18th green. However, Ocean Colony Partners had been unwilling to move the green of its 18th hole because it is a "signature hole" on its golf course, which has been recognized as one of the top 100 golf holes in the US.

You can download a PDF of the Coastal Commission staff’s recommendation on Ocean Colony’s most recent application to keep and reinforce the seawall from Coastsider. While it’s no longer under consideration, it’s a good source of background information.