Coastal Commission approves Fletcher Cove changes

By Phil DiehI
North County Times
June 11, 2005

SOLANA BEACH ---- California Coastal Commission members have approved a city plan to replace 60 of the 93 paved parking spaces at Fletcher Cove beach with an open park of grass and sand, officials said Friday.

The commission's approval came despite a recommendation by its staff planners to deny the Solana Beach request because it will mean less permanent parking near the beach.

While pushing for the park project, city officials contended it would be better to park a little farther away and walk, and leave more room to play at the beach.

"We're trying to encourage people to be healthy," said Solana Beach Community Development Director Steve Apple. "Walk."

The city has completed almost two miles of North County's coastal rail trail, he said, and it's building a second pedestrian bridge across the railroad tracks. It also has a downtown commuter train station, about three blocks from Fletcher Cove, where people are encouraged leave their cars behind.

Solana Beach officials have been planning the change for more than a decade, and purchased the Distillery lot at 140 S. Sierra Ave., just across the avenue from Fletcher Cove, to make up for the lost spaces. That property, known for a former night club that burned there, had 50 spaces on it and the city has built 74 more.

No estimate is available of what the Fletcher Cove changes will cost or when they will be completed, Apple said, but Councilwoman Lesa Heebner said the city has saved almost a million dollars for the project.

No construction will be done during the summer, city officials said.

The 5.6-acre park on Plaza Street at the western end of Lomas Santa Fe Drive is little more than an asphalt parking lot with a lifeguard tower, restrooms and a concrete ramp to the narrow beach.

"It's a huge accomplishment," Heebner said Friday of the approval. She attended the Coastal Commission meeting Wednesday with Apple and other city staffers to speak in favor of the project.

"We've had these plans just sitting there for years," Heebner said. "We should be able to do the design work this summer. We hope to begin as soon as possible."

Gary Cannon, a planner in the commission's San Diego office, said the approval included some general conditions yet to be worked out in detail.

"The exact language has not been worked out," Cannon said. In general, the city will be required to assure that stormwater run-off from the property is cleaned before it reaches the ocean, that any permanent irrigation on the property be removed, that drought tolerant and native plants be used in landscaping, and that the remaining parking spaces be open during construction.

Solana Beach officials have said the city of about 13,000 residents is woefully short on parks. Also, the sand at Fletcher Cove has eroded in recent years so that there's hardly any beach left at high tide. The parking lot above the bluff will make room for more people.

The city recently completed new restrooms at Fletcher Cove to replace the old ones that were there. The mayor and City Council are expected to attend a dedication ceremony for the facilities at 4 p.m. June 22.