By Adam Kaye
North County Times
January 10, 2006
SOLANA
BEACH ---- A Superior Court judge has ruled that the city may
not issue permits for sea walls until it revises a section of
its municipal code.
In a 23-page ruling released late last week, Judge Michael M.
Anello wrote that it was "impossible to reconcile"
conflicts in the code and a city-certified environmental
study.
The
ruling stems from lawsuits filed by the Surfrider Foundation
that challenged the city's review and approval of sea wall
projects along its 1.7-mile coastline. It stopped short of
endorsing other allegations submitted by the environmental
group.
Anello rejected Surfrider's allegations that the city has
"a pattern and practice" of skirting environmental
review of sea walls. He also upheld the city's granting of a
controversial permit for a sea wall beneath Las Brisas
condominium complex.
A Surfrider attorney, however, said the judge's moratorium on
sea wall applications represented a victory.
Anello noted that a 2002 environmental impact report explained
that sea walls cause the width of the beach to decrease, but
the municipal code prohibits "shoreline defense
structure(s) [that] adversely affect adjacent public or
private property, natural resources or public use of the
beach."
In other words, sea walls reduce the size of the beach, which
the municipal code prohibits.
CalBeach Advocates, a Solana Beach environmental group that
opposes sea walls, joined Surfrider in the lawsuit.
"The city has been playing fast and loose with its review
of seawalls for years," said Scott Williams, an attorney
and cofounder of CalBeach. The city must "come to grips
with the harm caused to the public beach when sea walls are
built to protect private, bluff-top homes built too close to
the edge."
The municipal code language that concerned Anello was under
review before his ruling was published and is the topic of a
City Council discussion scheduled for Wednesday, City Attorney
Jim Lough said Monday.
"We're not surprised on that portion of the ruling,"
Lough said. "We were working in that direction
anyway."
Lough said he did not know of any sea wall permit applications
that would be delayed by Anello's ruling.
Lough noted that the legal victory for Surfrider and CalBeach
was only partial.
He denied Surfrider's request to invalidate a 2002 city
environmental report that analyzed problems with the
75-foot-tall sea cliffs and the narrow beach beneath them.
Surfrider had objected to the report because it did not
identify proposed projects.
Anello upheld the city's approval of an emergency permit for a
sea wall beneath the Las Brisas condominium complex, which
Surfrider had sought to overturn.
"It's heartening to see that the opinions of our own
engineers were upheld and determined to be a legal
emergency," said Bob Trettin, a consultant representing
the Las Brisas homeowners association.
Todd Cardiff, an Encinitas attorney representing the Surfrider
Foundation, said Monday he did not know whether the
organization would appeal claims in the lawsuit that Anello
denied.
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