Sea level rise adaption on California Coastal Commission agenda

Commissioners will also discuss installation of storm drain near Rainbow Harbor and updating U.S.S. Midway infrastructure.

EUREKA—The California Coastal Commission meets Aug. 7-9 in Eureka, coinciding with publication of this issue. Among the issues to be discussed during the three-day meeting are sea level rise adaptation and the installation of a storm drain near Long Beach’s Rainbow Harbor. Reporting on both of these agenda items will be featured in our Aug. 23 issue.

The sea level rise adaption item is the latest in a series of presentations made by Coastal Commission staff. Coastal Commission Executive Director Jack Ainsworth called sea level rise a “slow-moving disaster” during the quasi-judicial agency’s November 2018 meetings.

Ainsworth told commissioners and meeting attendees back then the point of these sea level rise adaptation presentations is to provide local governments with tools to prepare for the day portions of their cities are underwater, as predicted.

“It [sea level rise] is going to happen. It would be irresponsible of us to not plan for this,” Ainsworth said at the November 2018 Coastal Commission meetings.

Commissioners also adopted updates to the state’s sea level rise policy at those same meetings in November 2018. The Ocean Protection Council presented new scientific findings on sea level rise. Much of what was presented about nine months ago focused on the effects of sea level rise on future coastal development.

Substantive discussions on sea level rise haven’t occurred since the November 2018 meetings. It is also unknown what Coastal Commission staff will present on the subject at the August meetings – the presentation was not made available to The Log or the public prior to press time. Commissioners, however, will hear and receive the presentation on Aug. 8.

Also on the agenda for the commission’s August meetings is an item on the U.S.S. Midway in San Diego. Commissioners will specifically be voting on a project to replace an existing brow, which includes a stair structure and ramp, with newer infrastructure. The new brow would allow for elevator access as well as loading and unloading of materials. This item will also be heard on Aug. 8.

Plans to build a small hotel in Sunset Beach – and near Huntington Harbour – will also be presented to commissioners on Aug. 8. Leonard Julian Sunset Beach LLC plans to build a 12-unit, three-story hotel at the site of a former car wash (17145 Pacific Coast Highway). The first floor of the hotel would include 1,800 square feet of retail space. Eight of the 12 hotel units would feature three bedrooms; the other four units would be four-bedroom spaces.

Fully vetted updates on all of these items will be immediately reported shortly after they are voted on; story updates will run in the Aug. 23 issue.

The commission’s August meetings are in Eureka; commissioners will meet again Sept. 11-13 in Newport Beach and Oct. 16-18 in San Diego.

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