A Pacific Beach Planning Group subcommittee voted 5-0 Aug. 6 to approve preliminary design plans for a new lifeguard tower in North Pacific Beach off Law Street at its final meeting. The subcommittee attached minor additional recommendations to the project, one calling for a proposed street guardrail to be removed and replaced with bollards. The group also requested creation of a bike-ramp transition from the boardwalk onto the street. Other possible improvements vetted by the subcommittee for the proposed North PB lifeguard tower included:
-Beach access cannot be closed during construction;
-Creation of a street-accessible people- and equipment drop-off area and enlarging the current area;
-Bike racks;
-Widening the boardwalk with a pleasant boardwalk termination and turn-around area;
-Vegetation and elevation transitions to keep people off the roof and out of the area of the roof;
-Possible ramp rework to provide a smoother more comfortable walk to the beach; and
-Formal hardscape transition to public beach showers. “The goal is to take the recommendation from this meeting to the regular planning group,” said Scott Chipman, subcommittee chair. Pointing out there remains a significant degree of public sentiment to “kill the project,” Chipman nonetheless noted “the time for that conversation was at the very beginning.” “I have suggested that those opposed take that to one of two city committees, Natural Resources and Smart Growth and Land Use,” continued Chipman, noting, “We’ve (subcommittee) made recommendations on the facility itself.” He added, “We’ve reduced the size and scale for this final stage, which we’re here to discuss today.” “We have protested the site location all the way through,” said PB resident Micaela Porte. “This is not a good spot. We have not even been allowed to look at any other site location. That is the problem. There has been no public input.” Chipman previously noted that lifeguards “established the facility’s shape, size and type.” He added that alternative locations on the sand at the beach and further north than the proposed site were considered but rejected in favor of the coastal canyon site off Law Street. City engineer Jihad Sleiman, project manager for the lifeguard tower, along with other city officials, answered questions from the subcommittee and public addressed at the group’s last meeting in mid-July. City public works officials noted much redesign has been done on the proposed new lifeguard building, which they pointed out is “buried on three sides with only one side exposed to the beach.” Asked by the subcommittee approximately how much of the building’s 3,500-square-foot gross area is buried, city officials’ answer was “48 percent” of the entire structure and “70 percent of the first floor.” Responding to a question last month about the possibility of sea level rise causing flooding onsite, city officials said the new lifeguard tower is being designed to accommodate a 100-year storm event as well as sea level rise projected out to 2050. Subcommittee member Chris Olson suggested that while bike racks are being considered as an amenity at the new tower, it might also be appropriate to “consider skateboard racks too.” Asked their view of the current lifeguard tower design, a lifeguard representative said, “We’re comfortable with what we have now.”