Staff Report: Amendment
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STATE OF CALIFORNIA -- THE NATURAL RESOURCES AGENCY GAVIN NEWSOM, Governor CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION SAN DIEGO AREA 7575 METROPOLITAN DRIVE, SUITE 103 SAN DIEGO, CA 92108-4421 (619) 767-2370 W13b Filed: 8/10/19 180th Day: 1/6/20 Staff: C. Hitchens-SD Staff Report: 10/1/19 Hearing Date: 10/16/19 STAFF REPORT: AMENDMENT Application No.: 6-08-110-A3 Applicant: City of Encinitas Agent: Brian Leslie, GHD Location: On the sandy beach at Batiquitos, Beacon’s/Leucadia, Moonlight, and Cardiff Beaches, Encinitas, San Diego County. Original Project Description: Opportunistic Beach Fill Program to capitalize on opportunities to obtain beach-quality sand from upland or dredging projects in the region for placement on Batiquitos and Moonlight Beach. Proposed Amendment: Extend existing program by five years and allow placement activities into spring. Staff Recommendation: Approval with Conditions SUMMARY OF STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff is recommending approval of the proposed development with conditions. The primary coastal issues involved with the proposal are potential impacts to public beach access and surfing resources, potential impacts to biological resources, including indirect sedimentation of offshore sensitive marine habitats, direct burial of organisms on the beach and in the nearshore environment, impacts to grunion and shorebirds, and increased turbidity. 6-08-110-A3 (City of Encinitas) The City of Encinitas’ original opportunistic beach replenishment program was approved in August 2009 and allowed for placement of sand for a five year period at two receiver sites within the City - Batiquitos and Moonlight Beaches. The program is designed to capitalize on opportunities to obtain surplus sand from upland construction, development, or dredging projects as they arise, and to place the sand at specific locations on the Encinitas shoreline instead of depositing the material to an inland disposal site. Projects that fall within the program parameters, which include maximum amounts of sand, deposition methods, seasonal placement restrictions, and grain size criteria, can proceed without additional approval from the Commission. Projects which do not meet the standards of the program or projects that raise any additional potential for impacts to coastal resources would require further review and approval by the Commission through a separate CDP or amendment. During the initial five year period of the beach replenishment program (August 2009 through August 2014) the City completed two opportunistic replenishment projects. In August 2014, the permit was amended to extend the permit term for an additional five year period from August 2014 through August 2019, add two additional receiver sites, (Beacon’s Beach and Cardiff Beach), limit the amount and location of material that could be placed at each site, and shorten the time period in which sand could be placed from 8.5 months to 5.5 months (September 15th to February 28th) to avoid prime beach use time and to avoid nesting/spawning of grunion and shore birds and replicate the natural process of sediment delivery to the coast during the fall and winter. The City’s Opportunistic Beach Fill Program was used to approve one project during the prior five- year permit period. The City of Encinitas is now proposing a third five-year time extension of the existing permit, and an extension of placement activities into the spring with the addition of biological monitoring plans. The existing permit allows placement activities between September 15th and February 28th of a given year. The City is requesting to extend the placement period to May 28th to allow for additional flexibility in the receipt of sand sources from construction projects. Because the extended time period would potentially allow some placement during the grunion spawning season, (March 1 to August 31), the western snowy plover breeding season (March 1 to August 31), and California least tern breeding season (April 1 to September 15) the project includes detailed monitoring requirements for grunion and avian monitoring and avoidance. Special Condition 8 requires that for grunion counts, each 300-foot segment be memorialized through multiple GPS coordinates and be marked with irrigation flags. Additionally, Special Condition 8 requires areas of high concentration of grunion and grunion eggs to be avoided, and clarifies that sand placement activities must halt in these highly concentrated areas until and unless a 100-foot buffer on either side of the highly concentrated areas is marked, no work may occur within the 100-foot buffer; and that every individual fish (males and females) shall be counted to determine the Walker Scale value. The condition allows work to commence in areas where grunion haven’t spawned, while avoiding areas where the fish have spawned.. The proposed avian monitoring plan requires monitoring and stopping work are avoiding nesting areas when sensitive bird species are identified. The proposed monitoring plans and requirements have been reviewed by the 2 6-08-110-A3 (City of Encinitas) Commission’s staff ecologist, and recommendations and revisions have been incorporated into the required monitoring plans. Therefore, as conditioned, the proposed project will avoid and minimize impacts to sensitive habitat. 3 6-08-110-A3 (City of Encinitas) TABLE OF CONTENTS I. MOTION AND RESOLUTION ...................................................................... 5 II. SPECIAL CONDITIONS ................................................................................ 5 III. FINDINGS AND DECLARATIONS ............................................................ 10 A. PROJECT HISTORY/ AMENDMENT DESCRIPTION .......................................................... 10 B. BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES AND WATER QUALITY ......................................................... 16 C. PUBLIC ACCESS AND RECREATION ............................................................................... 32 D. HAZARDS ..................................................................................................................... 39 E. LOCAL COASTAL PLANNING......................................................................................... 40 F. CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT ............................................................. 41 APPENDICES Appendix B – Substantive File Documents EXHIBITS Exhibit 1 – Project Location/Receiver Beaches Exhibit 2 – Batiquitos Receiver Site & Access Point Exhibit 3 – Moonlight Receiver Site & Access Point Exhibit 4 – Beacon’s/Leucadia Receiver Site & Access Point Exhibit 5 – Cardiff Receiver Site & Access Point Exhibit 6 – Swami’s State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) Exhibit 7 – Placement Methods Diagram Exhibit 8 – Dredge Pipeline Corridors Exhibit 9 – Surf Monitoring Camera Locations Exhibit 10 –Walker Scale Graphic 4 6-08-110-A3 (City of Encinitas) I. MOTION AND RESOLUTION Motion: I move that the Commission approve the proposed amendment to Coastal Development Permit Application No. 6-08-110-A3 subject to the conditions set forth in the staff recommendation. Staff recommends a YES vote on the foregoing motion. Passage of this motion will result in conditional approval of the amendment and adoption of the following resolution and findings. The motion passes only by affirmative vote of a majority of the Commissioners present. Resolution: The Commission hereby approves coastal development permit amendment 6-08- 110-A3 and adopts the findings set forth below on grounds that the development as amended and conditioned will be in conformity with the policies of Chapter 3 of the Coastal Act and will not prejudice the ability of the local government having jurisdiction over the area to prepare a Local Coastal Program conforming to the provisions of Chapter 3. Approval of the permit complies with the California Environmental Quality Act because either 1) feasible mitigation measures and/or alternatives have been incorporated to substantially lessen any significant adverse effects of the development on the environment, or 2) there are no further feasible mitigation measures or alternatives that would substantially lessen any significant adverse impacts of the development on the environment. II. SPECIAL CONDITIONS This permit is granted subject to the following special conditions: The following shall be added as new Special Condition 9 to the permit: 9. Grunion Monitoring & Avoidance Plan. PRIOR TO ISSUANCE OF THE COASTAL DEVELOPMENT PERMIT AMENDMENT, the applicant shall submit to the Executive Director for review and written approval, a Grunion Monitoring and Avoidance Plan that provides for the following: (a) Should sand placement activities be necessary below the high tide line between March 1 and May 28, the City shall avoid impacts to mature and/or spawning grunion and to grunion eggs. The applicant shall retain the services of a biologist with appropriate qualifications. The annually published California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) expected grunion runs shall be used to determine possible grunion spawning periods. The plan shall, at a minimum, include: 5 6-08-110-A3 (City of Encinitas) i. Sand placement sites shall be monitored for grunion runs beginning at least two weeks prior to commencement of sand placement activities, and throughout the period of planned sand placement work from March 1 through May 28. Monitoring is not necessary in areas where there is no sand, such as areas supporting 100% cobble or bluff backed beaches with no sand exposed during high tide. ii. Grunion monitoring