Sand Wedge

For as long as anyone can remember, a dusty path has meandered along this city’s beachfront, following only a rusty railroad track on which at least one person is run over each year. Now the city wants to cover the dust with asphalt and put up a fence, a proposal that has sparked a major debate.

On one side are beach-goers and city officials who believe that the trail will make for better recreational opportunities and that the fence will save lives. On the other are residents and environmentalists who say the project will look ugly, limit access to the sand and contribute to beach erosion.

“We don’t want it here,” said John Dorey, who recently helped form the group DeRail the Trail to oppose the city’s plans. “We’ve got this untouched natural resource here--the beach--and now we’re going to fence it in.”

Steve Apodaca, a San Clemente councilman, has a different view: “I think it’s a terrific idea. It’s one that the city and the citizens have been talking about for many, many years.”

Indeed, the idea of building a trail along the city’s five miles of oceanfront sand has been bouncing around for at least 30 years. Recently, however, the talk took a serious turn after the Orange County Transportation Authority, which owns the rail right-of-way, decided to use $4.52 million in federal funds to build the first 1.4-mile portion of the trail from Ole Hanson Beach Club to the T Street Bridge.

Construction is scheduled to begin early next year with completion in about six months, followed by construction of the 0.8-mile stretch from the T Street Bridge to Avenida Calafia. The path could eventually be part of a 70-mile stretch of coastal trails, still in the planning stages, that would link Dana Point to San Diego.

City officials see other advantages as well. The 12-foot-wide, 2.2-mile-long asphalt strip will be a useful addition for walkers, joggers and bicyclists. And the fence separating the trail from the track, they figure, will protect the 2.2 million people who visit the beach annually from the 30 trains that pass that way each day.

Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Fred Lisanti, chief of police services for the city, thinks that’s a good thing. While the vast majority of deaths on the track--including three last year--are suicides, he said, the fence will make it more difficult for people to get to the trains.

“If it prevents one accidental death,” Lisanti said, “then the fence is worth it.”

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His point was unwittingly underscored recently by a group of girls playing on the tracks. “This is our favorite thing to do,” said Alyssa French, 12, of Laguna Beach. Among other things, the girls said, they like to put pennies on the track to watch them be flattened, skip along the rails, put their ears to the metal to feel the vibrations of approaching engines and play daredevil with oncoming trains.

The danger of the locomotives didn’t much impress them.

“I love having the trains coming through,” Alyssa said. “It’s cool to watch. A fence would prevent me from doing my coin thing.”

Some residents, however, have more serious concerns, especially regarding the project’s second phase, which will pass close to neighborhoods in the city’s southernmost portion. “We’re very concerned about losing the area’s natural beauty,” Dorey said. “It will be like putting a road through there.”

Environmentalists agree, arguing that the asphalt and sea wall planned along some sections of the trail will disrupt the natural flow of the sand, causing undue erosion at certain points of the beach.

“Building on the beach is foolhardy,” said Mark Cousineau, president of the Surfrider Foundation, headquartered in San Clemente. “The beach is fine the way it is. Let’s leave it alone.”

Last month, Dorey and several others formed their group to oppose the city’s plan. In addition to marring the beach visually and environmentally, they say, the fence--which will have gates at only a handful of points--will severely limit access to the ocean.

“The question is, are people going to cut down or climb over the fence to get to the beach?” Dorey said. “We believe they will cut holes in it, and who’s going to pay for that?”

The city is planning two public meetings about the trail. On a recent afternoon at the beach, however, the debate was already rumbling.

“I think it’s great,” said Kathleen French, 39. French (no relation to Alyssa) was out for a stroll with her four young children. “I’ll be able to walk my kids up and down to the different beach areas. This will make it safer--I’m kind of excited about it.”

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David Haldane can be reached at (714) 966-5997. His e-mail address is david.haldane@latimes.com.