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 City of Solana Beach
Section 1
Shoreline and Coastal Bluff Management Strategies Draft MEIR
Introduction
reasonably foreseeable future, and (3) the direction that is likely to be followed by
SANDAG in the reasonably foreseeable future; and
Minimize the likelihood that any change in City policy will constitute an unconstitutional
taking of private property for which the City would be required to pay just compensation
on a scale beyond the means of the City to pay within a reasonably foreseeable time
frame.
1.4 Areas of Known Controversy
Policy decisions are usually controversial. In this particular case, the City is considering a
variety of policy decisions regarding how to manage the coastline in the future. On one hand
are the existing property owners who have significant investment and resources associated with
their property. These individuals could lose their property and/or equity through a variety of
means including, but not limited to, a forced buy out, eminent domain, drastic reduction in
property values, loss due to coastal erosion and cliff failures from natural forces, or inability to
adequately protect their property. On the other hand, the City recognizes that the California
coastline is eroding and structural improvements may or may not be viable for protecting some
of the properties that were built too low and too close to the ocean in the short and long term. In
addition, structural improvements and man-made solutions have adverse environmental impacts
to natural coastal processes. As a result, this MEIR provides an objective evaluation of those
potential impacts so the City and the public can make informed decisions about the tradeoffs
and impacts of those decisions on how to manage the coastline.
1.5 Intended Use of the MEIR
This MEIR serves as an informational document for the City to use in making decisions on how
to continue managing the Solana Beach coastline. There is no "proposed project" as there
typically is in a CEQA document. Instead, the MEIR evaluates the potential impacts of the
range of alternative coastline management strategies available to the City, each of which is
considered a separate alternative, and any one of which could be adopted based on this MEIR.
The purpose of this information is to help City decision-makers and the general public
understand the consequences and tradeoffs associated with adopting any one or a combination
of coastline management alternatives. However, this MEIR is not intended to be an all-
encompassing technical document. There are several significant studies being conducted by
federal and state agencies that will provide significant detail as to the coastal geologic
processes and the region's problems with coastal erosion and potential alternative solutions.
Most notably, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACOE) is currently conducting such an
investigation and the results are expected to be available in 2003. Other ongoing related
studies are summarized in Table 1-1.
This MEIR is intended to be a programmatic or policy-level document to assist the City in
deciding whether they will continue to ultimately protect private property rights, let the California
Coastal Commission manage the coastline, take an active stance in maintaining the beach
width through artificial means, or let the shoreline eventually return to its natural condition.
Project No. 323530000
Page 1-8
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