City to Pursue Bringing 30,000 Cubic Yards of Sand to North Beach

The San Clemente City Council unanimously voted at its Tuesday, June 4 meeting to authorize actions that would bring approximately 30,000 cubic yards of sand to North Beach, suspending the Sand Compatibility and Opportunistic Use Program in the process.

To pay for the transportation costs of bringing the sand to the city, totaling $1.38 million at $42 per yard of sand, the council voted to allocate the remaining funding in the city’s sand account and funding previously marked for SCOUP. The amounts equate to over $800,000 and over $500,000, respectively, enough to pay for transportation while putting the SCOUP pursuit out of commission for an estimated two years.

City Manager Andy Hall told the council the opportunity had landed on staff’s desk the previous night and required a quick turnaround, prompting Hall to offer up the city’s sand-related funding sources for connectivity.

“We needed to have a decision for tonight so that we can pull the trigger, literally tomorrow, on an RFP (Request for Proposal) so that we can get this going,” he said.

Orange County Parks had previously identified free sand that could be made available to San Clemente, according to Hall, with that possibility becoming a reality more recently. Placement could begin as early as late June, and would last around 70 days, as construction activities would occur Mondays through Thursdays and use 40 trucks each day.

The California Coastal Commission wouldn’t allow for activity on the weekends, he continued.

“All of that sand would be placed above the mean high tide line, because this is a waiver, and in order to accept the sand, we don’t have time to get a permit from (the California State Lands Commission) to do anything below the mean high tide line,” said Hall.

City officials surveyed North Beach and determined the beach is large enough to place the sand, leading staff to request the council approve the two allocations.

Hall spoke about the progression of efforts to get sand on San Clemente’s coastline.

“The reason for that is that right now, because of what’s happening, both with (the Orange County Transportation Authority) and the city, the (California Coastal Commission) recognizes that we need to get sand on our beach as quickly as possible,” he said.

Additionally, the CCC is willing to consider waivers and let the city bypass bureaucratic environmental processes to get the sand placed, Hall continued.

Although San Clemente is responsible for payment, city officials don’t want to miss the opportunity in front of them. Hall also called OCTA a great partner and mentioned that the city is asking CCC to help them pay for the amount of sand as mitigation for OCTA’s project at Cyprus Shores.

The CCC recognizes the city’s tight budget and the burden the price tag would place on the city, according to the city manager.

“We’re hopeful that that will work out,” Hall said. “We’re going to continue to work in that respect.”

He also spoke about the opportunity for additional sand, totaling between 40,000 and 45,000 cubic yards, that would be taken from Huntington State Beach and placed at Calafia Beach. City officials are also hopeful OCTA would place that project under its mitigation obligations; if that doesn’t work out, the city would keep looking for funding options.

The councilmembers recognized the urgency of the situation and the need to bring sand to San Clemente, although several expressed individual concerns about the project and its impact.

Mayor Victor Cabral was all for the new initiative, mentioning that if the city continued with pursuit of a SCOUP, it would be left without the money actually needed to deliver sand to its beaches like the project in front of them.

“(To use) that money right now, in my view, is the better option,” Cabral said, adding later that he didn’t believe SCOUP would be delayed the full two years.

Councilmember Steve Knoblock was more concerned about holding off an active endeavor such as SCOUP. He asked his colleagues to think of the need for continuing the program and asked Hall if the city could instead use rollover funding from its current or future unassigned fund balance, or remaining funding.

Hall reassured Knoblock that the city would seek to shift available funds in the future to re-engage SCOUP, acknowledging the unsustainable current method of using funds.

While Mayor Pro Tem Mark Enmeier noted Hall’s work in pulling rabbits out of hats and the community’s support, he also talked about how the city’s path was untenable and how San Clemente would need to find additional funding sources.

“I’ll just say to the community, eventually, unless the community stands up and puts something forward here, we’re going to run out of rabbits,” said Enmeier.