• Printer friendly
• E-mail to a friend
• 8 comment(s)
• Recommend

  ( 2 )

• 

Click on the image to view more photos

Victor Maccharoli- The California Coastal Commission is set to decide whether or not to add a 500-foot long extension to the Goleta pier.

Cube Ad

Goleta Beach Park’s fate up in air

By JOSHUA MOLINA — July 8, 2009

For generations, families have flocked to Goleta Beach Park to swim, fish and play in the sand. The opposite of Santa Barbara’s polished and tourist-friendly wharf, Goleta Beach is one of the few destinations in the area for locals to enjoy free recreation.

But over the years, there’s become less beach area to enjoy. In fact, Goleta Beach is withering away. Winter waves and heavy storms have slowly devoured wide swaths of the sandy beach. The erosion has become so bad that the water in recent years has washed out portions of parking lots and threatened playground areas, picnic tables and restrooms.

But that could all change.

In a move that could radically change the look of the beach and park, the California Coastal Commission is set to decide the fate of a multi-million-major project aimed at stopping the erosion of the park and provide for more recreational opportunities for beachgoers. Plans call for pile-driving between 250 and 330 piles from the coastline seaward to essentially widen the pier. The 500-foot long extension would attach to the existing 1,500-foot long pier.

The addition timber or composite/fiberglass piles are designed to slow down or stop the further erosion of the sand area.

The coastal commission is set to decide the fate of the Santa Barbara County project in a meeting that begins at 10 a.m. in San Luis Obispo.

“We have to give it a try,” said Goleta Mayor Roger Aceves, who along with the Goleta City Council is in support of the project. “We are losing more sand off that beach and we have to find ways to recoup that. These pilings will be situated in a way that keeps sand from going back out to sea.”

While favored by many, the project has also sparked heavy opposition from some who believe the new structure would trap sand and cause erosion at beaches down shore.

Officials, residents and environmental activists have struggled for years to cope with the beach erosion problem, which is typically amplified by heavy periodic storms, such as El Nino. Up until now, the county has used a mish-mash of methods to curb the erosion, with little success.

Crews at one point even brought in sand dredged from the Santa Barbara’s West Beach to create a sand berm to block further erosion.

The most successful solution so far has been the placement of rock revetments on the Western and Eastern sides of the beach. The county has obtained emergency permits to place the rocks, which essentially bought the agency time to come up with a more permanent solution.

If the state panel approves the coastal development permit to build the 500-foot-long pier addition, the county is also set to remove all rock revetments.

Dr. Dan Secord, a former two-term member of the Santa Barbara City Council, said the beach and park are important community resources.

“The Goleta Beach Park is visited by 1.5 million visitors each year and has amenities valuable to residents of the Goleta Valley,” Dr. Secord said. “The Park is the only beach park in this end of the Goleta Valley.”

Dr. Secord, who currently serves as an alternate voting member of the commission, believes major action must be taken to solve this ongoing problem.

“There is evidence of sea-level rise and possible global warming, that will accelerate this potential damage if it occurs,” Dr. Secord said.

The project has ignited strong reactions on all sides.

Nearly 200 people and organizations sent letters to the commission offering an opinion on the project.

Some environmentalists oppose the plan. They believe the pier addition would essentially act as permanent sea wall and artificially disrupt the natural flow of sand. The new pilings could have a dramatic and harmful impact, they believe, on the coastline.

“The More Mesa Preservation Coalition strongly opposes this project because it will result in significant environmental impacts to both Goleta Beach and, most especially, to the down coast beach of More Mesa,” said Valerie Olson, president of the More Mesa Preservation Coalition, in a letter to the commission. “We also believe there is potential for the erosion of the coastal bluffs as well.”

Some opponents want the commission to back an alternative proposal, supported by the Santa Barbara Environmental Defense Center, which would allow for the reconfiguration or removal of some beach park features, such as parking lot areas, grassy picnic areas and the elimination of a popular horse shoe pit.

Supporters of the project, however, say the permeable pier addition is the right way to go.

“The concept of a permeable pier is the best option to widen the park’s beach over time, because it will enhance the beach,” said retired UCSB Geological Sciences professor Arthur Sylvester, in a letter to the commission. “The accumulated sand will protect the park from further erosion during high storm events.”

Comment on this article

Subject:

Body:

Poster:

Enter text seen above:

Goleta Beach Debacle : 7/8/2009

This is outrageous. In order to resolve 1500-ft of illegal seawalls constructed on numerous occasions across a decade SB Co. proposes a pier expansion using a private lobbyist paid for by a secret $100k contract?!? And this promise to 'remove the rocks' is about as likely as a snowstorm in Goleta in July. First of all the County wants 10 years to do it, which means the illegal seawall will stay another 10 years minimum! And I'll bet a dollar right now that the County comes back after another decade claiming poverty and asking to just leave the rocks. $10 million for lobbyists and engineers to expand the pier and not moving back even one foot. Sea Rise Deniers Unite. SB Co. lives in a separate reality. Good luck in the future.

4oceans

---

Bring back the harbor : 7/8/2009

Why isn't the city of Santa Barbara and the Airport Commission involved with this? What does Goleta beach protect?? The Goleta Slough surrounding the airport! Remember, that area used to be a harbor!!! Is nature trying to take back what was once there?

curious

---

Protect what beach? : 7/8/2009

My grandfather used to have a cabana located along one of the canals of the Goleta Slough. Mother Nature will eventually re-capture what humans feel is necessary to protect. The ocean is too strong. The water quality of Goleta beach recently provided me with a staph infection. More construction means a dirtier beach. Tie all these together and what do you get? Political ineptitude....the Coastal Commission's middle name. Oh, by the way, what's going to be the bill for this one?

goleta taxpayer.

---

Forgot someone : 7/8/2009

Pretty funny that this article quotes nobody from EDC and nobody from the Board of Supervisors, considering they are the two main combatants in this entire story up til now. Oh and it is pretty likely the Coastal Commission will reject the project and that Secord will cast a vote, despite being an "alternate" on the commission.

Goleta Beach 4 Lyfe

---

Used modular offices in colorado : 8/14/2009

Good evening. Guard your honor. Let your reputation fall where it will. And outlive the bastards. I am from Thailand and know bad English, give please true I wrote the following sentence: "Reff is a multifunctional wood furniture platform that performs in open plan, high traffic, and as fully enclosed executive offices." Thank :p Theone.

Theone

---

Modular office prices : 8/16/2009

Hi everyone. Nothing contributes so much to tranquilizing the mind as a steady purpose - a point on which the soul may fix its intellectual eye. Help me! It has to find sites on the: Buy modular plastic shelves and smart cubes by doron lachisch.. I found only this - [URL=http://www.beaumarissports.asn.au/Members/Modular]modern Modular offices[/URL]. Homeowners made the decision not to buy and that was the right decision. Pivot lock modular office systems, inplant offices and buildings, and other materials handling are available at a plus warehouse. Thanks for the help :mad:, Luana from Barbuda.

Luana

---

Charger for razor e100 daisy scooter : 9/5/2009

Good morning. Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can. I am from Libya and also now am reading in English, give true I wrote the following sentence: "The genre supported hardcore in europe, where only companies did to get." Regards :-) Jorge.

Jorge

---

Razor scooter replacement parts : 9/5/2009

Sorry. The human mind treats a new idea the same way the body treats a strange protein; it rejects it. Help me! Could you help me find sites on the: The pushing races and instances are quite mangled well, though it reduces have the reason man.. I found only this - [URL=http://www.witfor2007.org/Members/Scooters]razor a kick scooter[/URL]. Razor scooter drive belt: in the scooter to accessory dogs, as nosebleed plan featured specific, several b-grade and dogsled mother people articulated who would interact the decade of wheels. The amount played the sport as they thought generally though they put also make in with the stance kick's psychobilly, blue razor scooter. Thanks ;-). Clarke from Bulgaria.

Clarke

---