$4.3 Million Clifftop CA House To Get Seawall, Despite Owners' Waiver 25 Years Ago

[hatrack]

A California house in Solana Beach likely will get a sea wall despite regulators' bid to block it. Beach protection advocates fear that a new sea wall for the "gap house" (background) will open the door for other California homeowners to get sea walls. Bob Trettin/The Trettin Co.

A California oceanfront home described as a "poster child" for managed retreat is poised to secure sea wall protection despite regulators' efforts to block it. The Solana Beach home sits on a cliff that's eroding, sending chunks of rock tumbling down to the sandy shoreline in San Diego County. As the ocean rises due to climate change, it is expected to deteriorate further. There's no sea wall beneath the house because the homeowners waived the right to one when they redeveloped the property 25 years ago.

They later sought a wall that the California Coastal Commission denied. But after two years of battles and a lawsuit, the agency has agreed to reconsider the case. In a settlement obtained by E&E News, the homeowners and their neighbors on either side agreed to drop their legal suit once the commission grants a permit. It's signed by the commission's executive director and chief counsel, and a state deputy attorney general

Beach protection advocates fear it will open the door for others to get sea walls up and down the coast. That ultimately will drown beaches as higher waters hit the walls, said Kristin Brinner, co-lead of the Beach Preservation Committee for Surfrider's San Diego chapter.

"If they agree to it, they're basically saying the deed restrictions they're placing on homes are not enforceable, and if neighbors work together they can get sea walls in front of homes," Brinner said. "It's basically sending the signal to anyone else that's thinking about doing development along the bluff-top, go ahead and build close to the bluff-top, you and your neighbors will figure out how to get a sea wall. "The beaches are going to be totally destroyed," she added.

EDIT

https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063732593

[tirebiter]

1. Over on East Side Santa Cruz

George O’Neill sought to build a wall to stop erosion of his home. He produced his plans to the Coastal Comission, got the ok and built it. There are two other structures similarly structured. It’s been that way for 30 some odd years. That’s it. The erosion control has been used to save the cliffs and keep a one lane road in place.
I have no idea what the situation is in San Diego as far as the geology or the proposed solution...

[The Jungle 1]

2. Good advice.

Everyone who hears these words of mine, and doesn't do them will be like a foolish man, who built his house on the sand.

[jimfields33]

3. I always worry about Barbara Streisand's home

It sits on a mountain ledge in Malibu. Seems kinda dangerous.