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Half Moon Bay Review A rolling stone gathers no moss, but for Ocean Colony Partners a huge pile of stones on the beach are gathering a lot of attention. For
the past two months, Ocean Colony Partners (OCP), the Coastal Commission and Half Moon Bay's planning department have been meeting and exchanging letters about a pile of large chunks of stone on the beach below the 18th hole of
Half Moon Bay Golf Links. The riprap was placed on the beach in 1998 to limit erosion of the bluffs at the 18th hole. However, according to the city's planning department, the Coastal Commission and environmentalists, OCP's
stones are causing more damage to the bluffs. "They are actually increasing the likelihood that they lose bluffs north and south," said Lennie Roberts of the Committee for Green Foothills. Roberts explained that the
riprap forces the waves to crash around the 18th hole, causing the neighboring bluffs to recede faster. "It could well lead to them having to put in more riprap and what you would have is the armoring of the coast."
But OCP's Pat Fitzgerald said that city gave the developers permission for the riprap. "We thought we had done what city staff wanted," Fitzgerald said. Roberts said she first noticed the riprap in January and then
wrote a letter to the Coastal Commission. The commission had already been on the case since 1999. "We have known about it for some time," said Nancy Cave, supervisor for the commission's Northern California enforcement
division. "We do consider this a very important and serious case." Cave said the commission had jurisdiction over the beach and the city has jurisdiction over the bluffs. So, to avoid a complicated process, the
commission is waiting for the city to act first. Currently, OCP has an application with the city to remove nearly two-thirds of the riprap and another application to put in a retaining wall instead. "It is going to be
really expensive," said Fitzgerald, who wouldn't give a price estimate. "(The riprap) is protecting our 18th hole, which is a big asset." City Planning Director Ken Curtis said that OCP would have to hire an
environmental consultant, chosen by the city, to examine the effects of a new retaining wall on the bluffs. Curtis expects the consultant to be hired in the next month. The project will then go to the Planning Commission after
the New Year. But, he said, "this has been going on for a while." The city has been in dialogue with OCP for nearly a year and a half. The Coastal Commission has also known about the riprap for over two years, but
Cave said this lengthy process is very normal. "When you have a large rock project, it is not unusual for this to take a long time to unravel." Cave said that the commission had been dealing with the Cliffs Hotel in
Pismo Beach for more than four years because the hotel put in rocks along the coastal bluff to stop erosion. The commission went through an extensive lawsuit with the hotel and the matter is scheduled for the Nov. 14 commission
meeting. Fitzgerald said that OCP is not in disagreement with the city or the commission that there is too much riprap near the 18th hole, but he said there is some disagreement over how much riprap is too much. However, he
still thinks that the proposed retaining wall, which he says will look like natural rock, will be much better aesthetically. |
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