Defending San Diego County's Bluffs - One Piece at a Time

We cannot perpetuate historical blufftop development patterns in areas we know to be hazardous.

The San Diego Chapter helped achieve a small victory for our coastline yesterday in supporting the Coastal Commission staff recommendation that a new home in Encinitas be setback 79 ft from the bluff edge, that the home not include a basement (which could disturb the natural bluff), and that the new home to be constructed on a currently vacant lot waive the right to a seawall in the future. The applicants fought hard, but the Coastal Commission ultimately agreed that we cannot perpetuate historical bluff top development patterns in areas we know to be hazardous and expect our coastline to be resilient to sea level rise.

There is a path forward, the applicants can enjoy a reasonably sized home set further back from the bluff.

Surfrider San Diego is on the look out for potentially precedent setting situations such as this one, and trying to ensure that the beach below will be there for future generations to enjoy. See our most recent letter on this issue here.

If you ever want to learn more about coastal policy, you can watch Coastal Commission meetings online here. This issue starts at about hour 5 and goes until about hour 6 on Aug 8, 2018.