Beset by bureaucratic red tape and cost overruns, the project by Broad Beach property owners to restore their disappearing beach is nearing a crossroads. Of $20 million approved by property owners for the entire project, $5 million has already been spent on permit fees and scientific and engineering studies, an amount the group’s attorney called “more than expected.” While two sources of sand replenishment have been identified and a starting date of summer 2014 set for the project, further delays could force homeowners to spend more to keep the project moving.
“I can tell you that the assessment district does not have unlimited funds to allocate to this project,” said attorney Ken Ehrlich, who represents an assessment district formed by property owners. “Every dollar that we now spend on permitting takes away from the money we have to allocate to actually building the project.”
Ehrlich stressed that if the group is able to secure the two sand sources—inland quarries in the Moorpark area and an offshore site off of Dockweiler Beach near LAX airport— in a reasonable amount of time, and receive the necessary approvals from state agencies, the project could still be done within the original $20 million budget.
Permits must still be secured from the California Coastal Commission and California State Lands Commission.
In order to protect their homes and properties from the ocean, 114 property owners formed a funding mechanism called a geological hazard abatement district (GHAD) in 2010. The GHAD is seeking government approvals to bring in 600,000 cubic yards of sand—enough to widen a milelong stretch of beach from Trancas Creek to Point Lechuza out to 100 feet. The project would restore Broad Beach to its original width (before natural and man-made forces began eroding it away in the 1970s), re-establish sand dunes with native plants, and bury a temporary rock wall built in front of 78 properties in 2010.
The group’s preferred source of sand, for economic reasons, is a site a half-mile offshore of Dockweiler Beach. But the process of securing it has turned into a bureaucratic nightmare for the GHAD.
The Dockweiler sand was sampled a couple of years ago and found to be “bountiful, plentiful and a good match,” said Ehrlich. At the time, the state of California believed it owned the sand. At the state’s direction, the GHAD spent $500,000 on studies involving scuba divers and other personnel to make sure the sand would not wash away if it was deposited on Broad Beach. But a year later, the GHAD received notification from the state that the City of Los Angeles actually owned the sand. The City of L.A. was not even aware it owned the offshore sand until they were approached by the GHAD last summer, Ehrlich said.
“Los Angeles had no infrastructure in place for approving or evaluating the GHAD’s request to purchase sand off the coast of Dockweiler Beach,” Ehrlich explained. “Theyíre still evaluating technical factors and have had a very steep learning curve.”
Jon Kirk Mukri, general manager of the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, confirmed in a telephone interview that his department is the custodian of that sand, and that no decision concerning Broad Beach has been reached yet.
“There’s going to be a total change in leadership, so I doubt if we’ll get this matter before the board for three to five months,î Mukri said. “We’ll have a new mayor elected in May, so our board members will change. There’s also a new council member being elected for the Dockweiler Beach district.
The GHAD has filed a coastal development permit (CDP) application for the project with the California Coastal Commission, but is being asked to conduct additional studies on the project’s impact on plant and animal species.
Planner Melissa Ahrens in the CCC’s Ventura office confirmed that the GHAD’s CDP application is currently classified as “nonfiled” pending their responses to a 17-page long “incomplete” letter from the agency. She said they were also waiting on permits from other agencies.
The GHAD has also filed amended documents with the State Lands Commission with more detailed information about the inland sand source in the Moorpark/Fillmore area, three commercial quarries called EMEX, Gillibrand and Grimes Rock.
“The State Lands Commission ultimately will be acting as a landlord over the improved beach. So theyíre asking the questions as an owner,” Ehrlich said. “And the Coastal Commission is asking the questions to make sure youíre doing everything right in accordance with the Coastal Act.”