Proposed Trail Could Become a Beaten Path

Opponents of a proposed beach trail in San Clemente are feeling cautious optimism that a new City Council, including a majority elected in November, will scuttle the project.

At least three of five council members have expressed opposition to the trail so far. A vote has not yet been planned, but the council will discuss the trail Wednesday.

“Right now, things are looking pretty good for us,” said trail opponent Kathryn Stovall Dennis. “But we know it’s still going to be a fight, even if they vote against it in the end.”

The idea of a trail has been in the air for three decades. But only recently did it become a serious proposal, when the Orange County Transportation Authority, which owns the right-of-way along railroad tracks that follow the shore, decided to use $4.5 million in federal funds to build the first 1.4-mile portion.

Along with a second segment of 0.8 mile, the trail could eventually be part of a 70-mile stretch of coastal trails. The proposal, strongly supported by the city under last year’s council, calls for a 12-foot-wide path for pedestrians and bicyclists between the railroad tracks and the shore.

First billed as a boardwalk, the trail drew opposition only after details emerged: The path would be paved, and a fence would be built between it and the railroad tracks that follow the shore.

“I thought, ‘Oh, how cute,’ ” after first hearing of the proposal earlier this year, Dennis said. “But then I found out what it really was. It’s not a boardwalk, it’s a road. We’re talking a . . . road with stripes and speed limits.”

Dennis quickly joined hundreds of other residents who opposed the trail project and launched what has become the most hotly contested debate of the new year.

Beach-goers and city officials insist that the trail would make for better recreational opportunities. And the fence would keep pedestrians and bicyclists off the tracks, backers say. At least one person dies on the tracks every year, officials said.

“If it prevents one accidental death, it’s worth it,” said Orange County Sheriff’s Lt. Fred Lisanti, chief of police services for the city. About 30 trains pass through San Clemente each day, he said.

But residents such as Dennis, who helped form the community group Derail the Trail, said the project will limit access to the ocean, mar the beach’s beauty and contribute to beach erosion. Environmentalists have told city officials that the asphalt and sea wall planned along some sections of the trail would disrupt the natural flow of the sand.

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

Recently members of Derail the Trail sold 3,000 T-shirts bashing the proposal and they now boast a mailing list of 5,000 names--residents, they say, who want only to protect their beach from more development.

“It’s very important to us that we keep the beach in its natural state,” said Bill Hart, the group’s vice president.

Indeed, Derail the Trail’s involvement at City Hall has been credited in part for the swarm of candidates who ran for three open seats in the November council election.

Sixteen candidates--none of them incumbents--entered the fray. Most said they were inspired to run to oppose some of the major development proposals before the city, including the trail.

Today, a clear majority oppose the beach trail.

“I believe that it encroaches upon our beach tremendously,” said Mayor Lois R. Berg, one of two members held over from the last council. “Twelve feet of asphalt is overwhelming. . . . It is not in the best interests of what’s left of our pristine beaches.”

“My primary concern is impact on sand erosion,” said Susan E. Ritschel, one of the three newcomers elected in November. “A sea wall can cause further erosion of the beaches.”

She also sees the trail as commercializing the beach because it would provide access not only to pedestrians, but to bicycle riders as well. “It would be different if it was a natural walking trail. That would be terrific.”

Councilman G. Wayne Eggleston, who campaigned against the trail project when he ran for council last November, maintains his opposition. “We really have to listen to what the people want,” he said. “And a lot of the people are against it.”

Times staff writer Liz Seymour contributed to this story.