After two failed attempts spanning a decade, a request from the county to rebuild and reinforce a retaining wall at Strands Beach in Dana Point was approved Oct. 13 by the California Coastal Commission.
The 5,000-ton wall will now receive another 1,000 tons of armor stone—known for its durability against erosion—as well as replacement of some rocks that have fallen out of place to better secure the bluffs.
The north and south access ramps and stairs from the bluff above to the beach will also be repaired and re-stabilized for public use.
The retaining wall, which is 1,250 feet long, 13 feet tall, and 30 feet wide was built in 1969. In 1980, the commission authorized reconstruction of the bluff after a landslide in 1977 caused some land in the planning stages for homes on the bluff above the beach to become destabilized. The wall was later compromised by the 1983 El Nino storms and additional storms in 1988, after which it was rebuilt again.
According to the commission, it will continue to monitor sand levels at the wall to ensure the additional rock stacking doesn’t add to sand erosion.
The process of shoreline protection, known as hard armoring, is used to reinforce shorelines. However, rock stacking can change wave patterns which may pull additional sand offshore. The commission is looking for alternative methods, but in more extreme cases, such as Strand Beach, hard armoring is necessary.
A legal dispute between the county and the homeowner’s association of Niguel Shores was settled in 1989, which guaranteed the county would maintain and repair the wall, as well as hold responsibility for any damages to residential properties.
The county attempted to obtain a permit to rebuild the wall but was denied in 2012 by the coastal commission because it said the project did not eliminate sand erosion or address complications with public access and recreational use of Strand Beach.
Another legal case in 2015 between the community and county ended with a court order to prepare another application to rebuild the rock wall. However, the application was denied again in 2020, for limiting public access.
This new application was unanimously approved by the commission because the project proposal was “responsive to concerns raised by the Commission in 2020 and because the Commission has to take action within deadlines prescribed by law,” the commission’s spokesperson Noaki Schwartz told The Epoch Times.
The Orange County Parks department did not respond to a request for comment.
