Editor: Allow me to begin by stating the obvious: The concerns of a few oceanfront homeowners in South Mission Beach about the lifeguard tower under construction there has nothing to do with public safety and everything to do with concerns over an imposition on their expansive views. Having worked many years as a full-time lifeguard, including at the South Mission Beach lifeguard tower, I’d like to offer some thoughts. The California Coastal Act of 1976 declared without reservation that the coast is the property of all the people, not just the affluent with the financial resources to own oceanfront homes. Thus, when decisions are made about the coastal zone, they are to be made with the needs of everyone in mind. In that regard, we are hearing nothing about this controversy from anyone other than those with the resources to own oceanfront property near the tower in question. I have worked as a lifeguard at the South Mission Beach station, but also at every other beach along the San Diego coastline. The only person in my many years of service whom I saw die by drowning in a rip current was north of the existing South Mission Beach station. I had observed the man and his friend struggling in a rip current and dispatched another lifeguard to effect the rescue, but he could not get to the second man in time. He submerged and died. The tower needs to be repositioned further north such that it is more strategically placed between the tower at Belmont Park and the South Mission Beach jetty. As for the size of the tower, it would be no surprise to any San Diegan who has lived here for any length of time that beach attendance has steadily grown. With that has come a need for growth in the size of the lifeguard corps. The existing lifeguard station was too small when it was built. It is all the more undersized now. It is not easy to justify the cost of a city building, even one for public safety. Readers can be assured that this tower is not everything the lifeguards might have wanted, but will be an improvement over what is there now. Lifeguard towers, by their nature, impinge upon views of the ocean. The trade-off is that they ensure that the many millions of people who attend the beach are protected. In fact there are some 5,000 or so rescues from drowning each year by San Diego lifeguards. Of the 180 degree views of the beach and ocean for oceanfront South Mission Beach property owners, this tower may add a degree or two of view obstruction. Meantime, the general public, who own the beach, will be better protected. In my view the public’s needs should be the priority here. B. Chris Brewster
Retired San Diego Lifeguard Chief