2014/June

The June hearing contained several controversial and emotionally charged items. The City of Huntington Beach requested to amend their Local Coastal Program by changing the land use designation from Open Space/Parks to Residential Low Density and the zoning from Residential Agriculture to Residential Low Density. The item was extremely heated—throngs of people testified that new development would impact coastal resources and Native American lands that contain sacred artifacts and burial sites. After hours of testimony, the City withdrew their application and will resubmit to Commission at a later date. Two shoreline protection items for San Diego were heard, Goetz and Bannasch. The Commission voted to continue Goetz and unfortunately approved the Bannasch shoreline protection application, which raised many concerns for local coastal advocates who argued that expanding sea caves by 92 feet along an unarmored bluff constitutes a seawall and must be denied. Finally, Commission Staff provided a briefing on the appeals process. Bowman voted for Cox, Pestor voted for Shallenberger and Song voted for Vargas as alternates.