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 City of Solana Beach
Section 3
Shoreline and Coastal Bluff Management Strategies Draft MEIR
Environmental Impact Analyses
3.2.2.2 Impact Assessment
Alternative 1 No Project - Continuation of Existing Policy
The construction of shoreline protection structures allowed under the Shoreline and Coastal
Bluff Protection Ordinance would affect residential land use along the bluff tops and recreational
land use on the beach. Two of the necessary purposes recognized by the Shoreline and
Coastal Bluff Protection Ordinance for issuing permits for the construction of seawalls and
similar shoreline structures are:
1.
To protect existing legally built structures on property when the structure or structures are
threatened with imminent danger or destruction from bluff failure due to erosion and other
methods of protecting the structure or structures are not feasible, and the benefit of
protecting the structure as opposed to removing it outweighs the adverse impact resulting
from the construction of the protective device; or
2.
To preserve economically viable use of property, when it is demonstrated that without the
proposed protection measure, the property could not be used for any economically viable
purpose and other methods of protecting or economic usefulness of the property are not
feasible.
The Land Use Element in the City's General Plan encourages the development and
maintenance of healthy residential neighborhoods, the stability of transitional neighborhoods,
and the rehabilitation of deteriorated neighborhoods and would therefore be consistent with the
purposes stated above. However, another objective within the Land Use Element is to ensure
that long-term protection of the environment is given the highest priority in the consideration of
development proposals. Read in isolation, the Shoreline and Coastal Bluff Protection
Ordinance could be considered inconsistent with this one particular objective due to the
controversial implications of potential environmental impacts associated with seawalls and
shoreline protection structures. However, the Ordinance is clearly consistent with other General
Plan policies, including those encouraging the maintenance of residential neighborhoods, and
thus is considered to be consistent with the General Plan as a whole, including the City policy
for long-term protection of the environment. (See No Oil, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (1987) 196
Cal.App.3d 223, 244 ("portions of a general plan should be reconciled if reasonably possible").)
The Open Space Element of the City's General Plan requires new developments to be subject
to visual impact analysis where potential impacts upon sensitive locations are identified. It also
requires that new structures and improvements be integrated with the surrounding environment
to the greatest possible extent. The Safety Element of the City's General Plan discourages the
use of seawalls. The Shoreline and Coastal Bluff Protection Ordinance recognizes these
policies and is consistent with them because its purpose is to strictly regulate the construction of
new seawalls, revetments, bluff retaining walls, and other similar shoreline structures by only
accepting projects when necessary to accomplish specific purposes (Municipal Code
17.62.020). Under the Shoreline and Coastal Bluff Protection Ordinance, permits for seawalls,
revetments, or bluff retaining walls may only be issued if the structure is constructed and
Project No. 323530000
Page 3-37
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