City of Pacific Grove Sea Level Rise Transportation & Infrastructure Adaptation Plan

SB1 Adaptation Planning Grant: Final Case Study

Summary

Pacific Grove’s shoreline is a special place. It is an iconic stretch of coastline featuring trails, parks, beach areas, fishing spots, tidal pools, overlooks with panoramic views and opportunities for wildlife sightings, among many other amenities. Understandably, it is a beloved community destination, a source of much local pride and a popular regional attraction. At the same time, the area faces several challenges. It hosts sensitive natural and historic resources, as well as vital infrastructure, all of which require careful protection. Perhaps most seriously, Pacific Grove’s coastline experiences ongoing erosion from winter storms, wave action and other natural processes. These forces continually reshape the shoreline, on many occasions with destructive results.

The City was granted a 2018-2019 SB1 Caltrans Adaptation Planning Grant to develop a Shoreline Management Plan (SMP) to address these challenges. The plan’s overarching objectives are to provide continuous recreation trail access along the shoreline, and minimize the need for new seawalls, riprap and other forms of shoreline armoring while incorporating other opportunities to enhance and offer long-term protection from coastal erosion and sea level rise to other coastal amenities, public infrastructure, and natural and cultural resources.

Meeting these objectives will entail trade-offs and it means that compromises will have to be made—for example, by retaining existing armoring to protect trails and parks, or by taking over public parking spaces to extend the shoreline trail or relocate it inland. While such trade-offs are inevitable, the city’s goal is to strike the balance that, over time, maximizes public access opportunities and protection of the shoreline.

The project commenced in March 2018 and concluded in December 2020. The project included extensive public outreach and feedback.

Lead Agency and Partnerships

City of Pacific Grove served as the lead agency for this project. However, the SMP’s recommendations were developed based on the Coastal Act policies and several other key sources. These include the city’s own policies and previous plans; background technical studies prepared for the SMP; the professional knowledge and experience of the project consultants; input from stakeholder public agencies; and feedback from Costal Commission staff. Perhaps most importantly, though, the recommendations emerged from, and where shaped by, the substantial and significant input of the Pacific Grove community: residents, property owners, community-based groups and organizations, city staff, and appointed and elected officials. These are the people who know the city’s shoreline best, love it most and want the best for it for generations to come.

Drivers

The project was driven by a Special Condition from a Coastal Development Permit (CDP) received by the California Coastal Commission (CCC). In July 2017, the CCC approved a CDP for the repair of a failed portion of seawall across from 701 Ocean View Boulevard, between Ocean View Boulevard and the ocean water's edge, in the City of Pacific Grove. The CDP was approved with a special condition that the City conduct a plan to address coastal infrastructure.

Engagement Process

Development of the SMP included an extensive public outreach process. The initial round of public outreach was conducted to hear the community’s vision for the shoreline and people’s differing perspectives on the issue of coastal erosion. More specifically, the city sought input on issues and locations of concern and on ideas and suggestions for managing the impacts of erosion. Opportunities for the public to participate included an online survey, an interactive pinnable map and a community open house. Over 600 comments were received from the public.

The second round of public outreach was performed to gather feedback from the community on several draft proposed management strategies being considered for the Shoreline Management Plan. Opportunities for the public to participate included an online survey and a community meeting. This second round of public outreach included 1,200 comments.

Extensive advertising of these public feedback avenues was performed to ensure all users of coastal resources, including vulnerable and disadvantaged communities, were provided opportunities for feedback.

A full recap of the public outreach efforts is available on the project website: https://www.pgshoreline.org/documents

Climate Impact Area

This project addresses climate impacts associated with sea level rise and erosion. Several technical assessments and studies, including a biological resources assessment, vulnerability assessment, cultural resource assessment, and geological and hydrologic conditions assessment were performed. These assessments and research helped frame the discourse and understanding of the 30-year sea level rise and erosion impacts to the shoreline and served as the basis for the plan recommendations.

The technical studies are available on the project website: https://www.pgshoreline.org/documents

Funding Source

The Caltrans Adaptation Planning Grant Program made available $7 million for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-19 grant cycle. The City of Pacific Grove applied for and received a grant in the amount of $220,956, with a local match of $28,627-bringing the total project cost to $249,583.

Research and Data

A variety of tools and resources were used to conduct background data and research to inform this plan. This includes bathymetric and topographic obtained from USGS, USACE, and NOAA. Information was also obtained from the Ocean Protection Council. The full vulnerability assessment and other technical studies are available on the project website: https://www.pgshoreline.org/documents

Challenges

The largest project challenge included devising conceptual recommendations that address and protect coastal resources from sea level rise without resulting in significant loss of coastal parking. Although the plan provides some firm recommendations, the designs are conceptual in nature. If any one of the individual recommendations moves forward, there will be further opportunities for city staff, city officials and the public to shape and refine the details of the design as more detailed plans and drawings are prepared. At that time, and depending on the community’s desires, the design of the site could be modified to further limit the proposed loss of parking spaces.

Outcomes

The Shoreline Management Plan provides the City with a set of recommendations to provide continuous public trail access along the shoreline and protect coastal resources. The SMP’s recommendations were developed based on the Coastal Act policies and several other key sources including the City’s own policies and previous plans, background technical studies prepared for the SMP, the professional knowledge and experience of the project consultants, input from stakeholder public agencies, and feedback from Coastal Commission staff. Perhaps most importantly, though, the recommendations emerged from, and were shaped by, the substantial and significant input of the Pacific Grove community. The outcomes of these assessments will also inform updates to the goals and policies sections of the General Plan and Local Coastal Plan. Specific strategies from the assessment will help shield and offer resiliency to transportation systems, critical facilities, disadvantaged and vulnerable communities, and local businesses and homes from climate impacts.

Replicability

Other coastal municipalities can harness similar public outreach tactics and perform technical background studies to obtain feedback and assess methods and strategies to protect coastal infrastructure, while continually providing public access.