On June 13 the California Coastal Commission unanimously endorsed extending the guideline rope and seasonal closure of La Jolla\u2019s Children\u2019s Pool for 10 more years.
\nThe Coastal Commission\u2019s decision overrode a call by opponents of the 10-year extension for a far shorter time period with more conditions.
\nThe Coastal Commission also disagreed with permit-extension opponent\u2019s claim that the public historically accessed a ramp leading down to the pool. Commissioners agreed with a staff report suggesting that the non ADA-compliant ramp has only been used for emergencies and maintenance, would cost too much and take up too much space to build and would be flooded during high tides.
\n“The unanimous vote by the Coastal Commission to renew the 10-year permits for the guideline rope and the annual pupping season closure reinforces how successful this elegant compromise is for seal protection and beach access,” said Adrian Kwiatkowski, Seal Conservancy executive director. “Together they work.”
\n“I\u2019m very pleased,” concurred Dr. Jane Reldan of the Seal Conservancy. “With the five-month closure of the beach and seven months of the guideline rope, there is no more conflict at Casa Beach. People can view seals and go swimming in peace, which is what was hoped for.”
\nBut not everyone saw that way. Particularly not La Jolla pro-beach access advocates, who\u2019ve argued the de facto seal rookery at Children\u2019s Pool violates the intent of the pool trust, which they interpret as calling for preserving the pool in perpetuity as a safe wading area for children while guaranteeing access for numerous users including anglers and divers.
\nRepresenting the La Jolla Community Planning Association making land-use recommendations to the City, Mike Costello said, “Photos of the ramp road going from the upper level to the beach show it\u2019s been there since the \u201840s and has been used by pedestrians for beach access.”
\nKen Hunrichs of Friends of Children\u2019s Pool argued government has shirked its responsibility to properly maintain the pool and provide public access to it.
\n“We oppose criminalizing beach use, which is what is being done here,” Hunrichs argued. “The extension should be granted for a two-year maximum, with enforced conditions calling for water- and sand-quality improvements, as well as access for the disabled. Access for fishing and other uses must be maintained.”
\nDuring board comments, Orange County Commissioner Karl Schwing said, “Studies have shown installing an ADA-compliant ramp would be a sizable undertaking, and that there weren\u2019t any significant water-quality issues which will continue to be monitored without conditions being imposed.”
\nAdded Schwing, “The summer rope barrier isn\u2019t prohibiting public use of the beach.”
\nConcluded Coastal Commission chair Steve Padilla: “I appreciate the staff\u2019s work and that people feel passionate about this. We have a natural proclivity to want to ensure our exclusive dominion over nature. I\u2019m concerned about the City\u2019s level of enforcement. It\u2019s important, as we go forward, that we keep a close eye on this to ensure people aren\u2019t choosing to engage in poor behavior.”<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On June 13 the California Coastal Commission unanimously endorsed extending the guideline rope and seasonal closure of La Jolla\u2019s Children\u2019s Pool for 10 more years. The Coastal Commission\u2019s decision overrode a call by opponents of the 10-year extension for a far shorter time period with more conditions. The Coastal Commission also disagreed with permit-extension opponent\u2019s […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":256103,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11560","_seopress_titles_title":"Coastal Commission endorses closure, rope for Children\u2019s Pool","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11560,11551],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-280416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-la-jolla-village-news","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}