San Francisco Western Shoreline Area Plan LCP Amendment

The City and County of San Francisco proposed to amend their Land Use Plan (LUP), also referred to as the Western Shoreline Area Plan, by adding new policies related to coastal hazards. The proposed amendment primarily addresses erosion, flooding, and sea level rise along the Ocean Beach shoreline in San Francisco’s coastal zone and transforms some of the broad visions on these points developed through the Ocean Beach Master Plan planning process into a set of LCP policies that provide direction at a similarly broad level of detail. The proposed amendment requires the City to develop and implement proactive adaptation measures applicable to the most severe areas of erosion south of Sloat Boulevard, including managed retreat and beach nourishment, and outlines a framework for the development of future adaptation measures along the entire shoreline based upon best available science. In that sense, the proposed amendment is primarily a statement of the City’s overall intentions, and a precursor to further LCP work.

The Surfrider Foundation’s San Francisco chapter and San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR) spoke in support of the amendment. Surfrider especially supported the change in policy that calls for managed retreat of the Great Highway and parking lots in a two-phase plan and the preferred use of soft measures for erosion emergencies over hard armoring.

Commissioner Aaron Peskin motioned to approve the LUP update, describing it as “forward-thinking.” The motion passed unanimously.

‍

Ocean Beach, San Francisco has experienced chronic erosion issues for several decades. This plan is the first step in restoring Ocean Beach and removing existing hard armoring that only exacerbates the erosion issues at South Ocean Beach. Eventually, we can anticipate a wider beach with more access and recreation opportunities.