A community outcry against big boulders being placed on the beach in San Clemente grew louder Thursday evening, with a crowd calling for the use of more sand as a buffer as the Orange County Transportation Authority plans new projects to protect a key rail line that runs oceanfront in sections of the town.
A standing-room-only crowd of about 150 people filled City Hall for a listening session hosted by the OCTA, which owns the train tracks through Orange County, including a 7-mile section in San Clemente that has been shut down several times in recent years due to landslides on the inland side and erosion from the ocean on the other.
Some in attendance held signs reading “Boulders Kill Beaches” and “No Sand, No Surf,” and about two dozen people spoke about the need to add a sand buffer as a softer, more natural approach to try and keep the ocean away from the tracks.
Early public discussions of planning for possible projects before the next rainy season mostly featured riprap revetments with boulders between the beach and the tracks and catchment walls on the inland side to hold back possible landslides. Following several community sessions and meetings with city and state agencies, OCTA officials said an estimated 500,000 cubic yards of sand to accompany 67,000 tons to 84,000 tons of rocks is being considered as part of their conceptual plans.
“We thought tonight’s participation was great. That’s the whole point of the listening session, there was great engagement, we had lots of feedback, as we have had throughout the study,” said Joel Zlotnik, OCTA’s communications manager.
Where that sand would come from and whether the OCTA could obtain permits and approvals needed in just a few months is still unknown. It’s also unknown where the estimated $250 million to $340 million needed for the rocks, walls and sand would come from.
San Clemente City Manager Andy Hall thanked OCTA for holding the sessions, noting that the transportation authority is already working on plans to add 30,000 cubic yards of sand to the shore this summer and another 40,000 cubic yards in fall, as mitigation for rocks put down last year.
Placing sand on the beach should be as easy and efficient as placing rocks, Hall argued, but the permitting hurdles that exist are out of OCTA’s hands, he said. Current regulations take far longer to approve and implement, he said.
“I encouraged San Clemente residents to support the OCTA in its efforts to help restore our beaches,” Hall said. “Yes, they have a responsibility to keep trains moving, yes the revetment will need repairs, but if that was coupled with the commitment to help us maintain healthy beaches through sand nourishment, we should encourage them to implement their plans as quickly as possible.”
OCTA’s conceptual plans include a half-mile-long catchment wall near the most recent landslide at Mariposa Point, as well as using more boulders on the beach side, including “engineered revetment,” a base of rocks spanning 50 feet on the south end of town, as well as adding rocks to San Clemente State Beach and at the north end of the city’s shore.
Two advocacy groups, Save Our Beaches-San Clemente and Bring Back Our Beaches, have formed following emergency riprap dropped in recent years following track damage, with BBOB launching a petition against the use of more of the so-called hard armoring that has generated 10,000 signatures.
The effect of the additional boulders speeding up erosion at the beach in front of the 2021 landslide area at Cyprus Shores on the south end of town is apparent, argued Lisa Gant, representing the advocacy group Save Our Beaches.
“No one is denying there has been increased erosion at our beaches. However, in order to replenish and save our beaches, we must protect them,” she said. “Not finish them off with overzealous boulder dropping and revetments.”
Dropping big boulders on the beach to protect the rail line is not an “engineered solution,” she argued.
“To engineer means to study, to plan and to scientifically apply real facts to solve a problem. Dropping boulders in monstrous quantities without thought of the true consequence on the public beach is not an engineered solution. Sprinkling sand on top of a monstrous pile of rocks is also not an engineered solution,” she said. “Real solutions have been shared – a larger buffer of well-thought-out and well-placed sand along the tracks and the ocean and very minimal armoring is a better solution.”
Negative impacts from hard armoring “is predictable,” said Charlie Fox, a member of the BBOB group who said he is a meteorologist with an expertise in nearshore currents and wave dynamics and works with Naval Special Warfare. “The beach can not reform where there is rock. There’s just too much energy. It will never reform unless there’s enough sand in the system. Let’s inject more sand … a healthy beach is a healthy, protected rail.”
Pro surfer Kolohe Andino said he has also noticed the changes to his beach town recently and that’s why he hasn’t been down to the Cottons area to hit the waves on the south end of town.
“There’s no beach down there, so there’s no reason for me to go down there,” he said. “That’s the whole point of this. Without our beach, why do we even live here?”
Assemblywoman Laurie Davies, who represents the 74th district, said there is a domino effect that comes with destroyed beaches.
“We’ve been dealing with loss of sand and economically, a lot of people may not realize it, but a majority of revenue comes from tourism,” she said, noting that those tax dollars in turn fund infrastructure and public safety.
The railway is part of the 351-mile Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor, or LOSSAN, and is used by both passenger and freight trains. Landslides and damage from waves have already cost taxpayers $37 million since 2021 and caused five closures of the rail line, some lasting for months.
At the same time, beaches are a source of recreation for the public, as well as a revenue generator with tourism and a layer of protection for homes and infrastructure.
The OCTA is in the process of studying short and long-term solutions for the rail line, which could include being relocated inland – but such a move would take years, if not decades, and cost billions of dollars.
San Clemente resident Mike Barns said he is opposed to taxpayers footing the high bill for the short-to-medium-term solutions being looked at, saying the rail should be moved inland right away.
“I think it’s a waste of taxpayer funds. This plan won’t stop sea-level rise, it won’t keep the beaches from eroding and it won’t stabilize the majority of the bluffs adjacent to the beach,” he said. “This plan just appears to me to be a bandage to kick the can down the road for the next generation to have to deal with, once again.”
Now, OCTA staff will go back to the drawing board with the community input to come up with more detailed designs and plans next fall, said Program Manager Dan Phu.
The hope is to have work done ahead of the next winter season along an estimated two-thirds-of-a-mile stretch.
