A La Jolla Shores Association ad hoc committee that has been exploring possible improvements to the beach access walkway at Spindrift Drive is being dissolved.
Shores Association board member Kathleen Neil, a driving force behind the Spindrift Drive/Marine Room Beach Access Committee, told LJSA on March 19 that delivery of a final feasibility study completed the committee’s mission and justified its dissolution. The Beach Access Committee held its first meeting in June 2023.
The 224-page feasibility study was released by infrastructure advisory firm Moffatt & Nichol on Dec. 6 after an initial draft was issued in September. The report covers three questions the committee posed: What is the current condition of the Spindrift Drive beach access site next to The Marine Room restaurant, what is the history of the walkway and what options are available for reconstruction or replacement?
According to the report, the walkway is in fair condition beyond more serious problems with its lower steps and its 18-inch beach-level landing.
Four options were proposed for the walkway. The least extensive is repairing the staircase and adding handrails. The other options propose replacing the stairs within the existing footprint, replacement with a footprint extension or replacement featuring disabled-compatible access.
The estimated costs range from $410,000 to $4.775 million, including overhead, insurance and indirect costs.
A few years ago, when the design was simply a handrail on the existing stairs, the cost was estimated at $170,000.
The full study is available at lajollashoresassociation.org/-events.
The Spindrift Drive beach access walkway serves as a gateway to La Jolla Shores beach and is popular among walkers and swimmers.
The walkway’s original construction date is unknown, but stormwater runoff and effects of the marine environment have caused notable deterioration over the years. The worsening conditions have resulted in slips and injuries, according to advocates of repairing the stairs.
The repair project has been in the works since 2018. The original plan called for a handrail to be affixed to a neighboring building, but that changed because of liability concerns for the property owner.
A plan in July 2022 called for a freestanding railing not attached to private property and for a redesign and rebuild of the deteriorating lower stairs. The design was approved in August that year by both the La Jolla Shores Association and La Jolla Shores Permit Review Committee.
But a new plan presented in October 2022 proposed dispensing with the handrail and reconstructing the stairs so they descend slowly by inserting a landing after every two stairs. The design would continue the stairs at the corner of the private residence on the left side of the access.
But La Jollan Patrick Ahern, who shepherded the Spindrift project with Neil, said in 2023 that because the new plan involved adding to the accessway beyond its current terminus, the California Coastal Commission could not it.
Thus, he and Neil formed the working group to explore new design options.
Though the Beach Access Committee met its goals, another group could further its efforts in the future, Neil said.
“Should the city of San Diego decide to fund one of these alternatives presented in the study, it may be important to form a new working group to advocate with the city regarding what would then be a capital improvement project,” she said.
However, Neil called the possibility of the city funding the project “rather remote.”
With a budget deficit of $258 million projected for the next fiscal year, the city has initiated a series of cost cuts and fee increases to try to reduce the gap. The shortfall has cast doubt over how many capital improvement projects will be pursued over the next year. And projected deficits exceeding $1 billion over the next five years don’t provide a better outlook.
Though not everyone at the LJSA meeting was on board with dissolving the committee, Neil said she has no intention of backing away from the effort but it makes more sense to form a new group than continue the current one.
“The nature of the ad hoc committee … is that it is established for a specific period of time to achieve a goal,” Neil said. “Selection of an option would ideally be under an ad hoc or standing committee that dealt with fundraising.”
The Shores Association is not structured to provide tax-exempt fundraising for whichever design is preferred, she added.
The board voted 9-3 to dissolve the committee.
New committee
As one Shores Association ad hoc committee was discontinued, a new one was approved on a 12-0 vote to set out to create a community event for “fun, hip and visibility.”
LJSA trustees Karen Marshall and Keys Allen volunteered to be part of the group, though it will not be limited to board .
Next meeting
The La Jolla Shores Association next meets at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 16, at the Martin Johnson House on the campus of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 8840 Biological Grade. Newly elected board will be sworn in at the meeting. Learn more at lajollashoresassociation.org. ♦
