Plan for keeping and removing beach encroachments goes to Newport council Tuesday
The issue of beachfront encroachments that for years has troubled Balboa Peninsula homeowners, city officials and the California Coastal Commission may be moving toward a resolution.
The Newport Beach City Council on Tuesday is expected to consider a plan that would allow 66 properties along East Ocean Front in the Peninsula Point community to keep encroachments up to 15 feet past the public right of way. Homeowners would have to remove any encroachment that extends past 15 feet, according to a city staff report.
Encroachments typically consist of grass or other plants but sometimes are walkways, patio furniture and yard adornments that in some cases extend up to 65 feet beyond the property line.
It’s not clear how long many of the encroachments have been in place, but some estimate they have been around since at least the 1960s.
Under the proposed plan, homeowners who want to keep their 15-foot encroachments would have to pay an annual fee that would help fund beach access improvements. The exact cost hasn’t been determined, but it could range from $728 to $3,656 annually. depending on the depth of the encroachment, the report states.
City Council members indicated during a study session in April that they are in favor of moving forward with staff’s plan. The Coastal Commission also would have to sign off on the plan before any encroachments could be removed.
Staff is suggesting the council wait to adopt a set fee for encroachments until the Coastal Commission has weighed in on the issue.
If both agencies approve, the city would put up the money to remove any encroachments past 15 feet and the homeowners would pay reimbursement. The cost of the removal and maintenance is estimated at $210,000, staff said.
“The proposed plan would remove the ornamental improvements and invasive vegetation in stages over a three-year period while encouraging existing native coastal strand vegetation and introducing appropriate ground cover in the removal areas, so that large areas of sand are not made unstable at any time during the process,” the staff report states.
The encroachment issue came to the forefront in 2012, when the Coastal Commission issued notices of violation to 15 properties along East Oceanfront on Peninsula Point whose landscaping had crept onto the public beach in violation of the state Coastal Act.
An additional 43 properties were identified as having encroached on public property, but the commission agreed to hold off on sending violation notices to those owners after the city indicated it was working on a more comprehensive solution to the issue.
Tuesday’s City Council meeting will begin at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 100 Civic Center Drive.
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Hannah Fry, hannah.fry@latimes.com
Twitter: @HannahFryTCN
