Clean up Begins at Capo Beach Park – Again

Over the holiday weekend, the local coastline, including County-owned Capistrano ("Capo") Beach Park, was hammered by heavy surf accompanied by high tides. Raging water gouged the shoreline, further undermining an existing hole in the south end of the parking lot and strewing concrete trash cans and benches along with copious sand and cobble. Sidewalks, the parking lot foundation and asphalt, two old sea walls and other infrastructure was badly damaged.

In a brief window during Sunday morning’s low tide, an OC Parks crew made quick work of shoring up sand to save the trail between Capistrano and Doheny Beaches. The well used coastal path, which is sandwiched between the railroad right-of-way and the shore, provides a vital link between the two beaches, granting pedestrians and bicyclists entrance to a portion of Doheny known to locals as “Hole in the Fence”.

The trail shows up in photographs taken a century ago, but back then, there was a wide berth between the trail and the beach. Today, the path is regularly undermined by heavy surf, and is intact mainly thanks to regular maintenance by the County of Orange. The path was further bolstered by emergency work undertaken by the City of Dana Point to shore up storm drain/water quality infrastructure located mid-path. Since the storm drain is considered “essential infrastructure”, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) permitted the installation of sand cubes which are protecting about one quarter the length of the path. The rest of it is exposed to the heavy seas that have made frequent assaults on Capo Beach. Local advocacy group, Capo Cares, launched a petition https://www.ipetitions.com/pet... to “Save Our Coastal Trail” that currently has over 600 signatures.

After last week’s surf ravaged and seriously undermined the path yet again, they’re hoping for more signatures to ensure this vital link is preserved for the many surfers and beachgoers who access both beaches daily.

The parking lot remains closed today as heavy equipment and crews worked on yet another major clean up. County Parks officials have made an emergency application to the CCC for removal of damaged and dangerous sidewalks, parking lot infrastructure and two broken seawalls. One of those seawalls consists of remnants of worn and rotted timbers from a protective barrier erected circa 1920s in front of the historic Capistrano Beach Club which was razed in the late 60’s. It, along with roofing tiles, chunks of plaster from the old Club swimming pool and rusted vintage car parts encased in cement (used as armor against the sea) were revealed in December, 2018 when the beautiful boardwalk was ripped from its foundation during another major surf event.

What lies ahead for Capistrano Beach? For now, clean up efforts are expected to continue into next week. It looks like residents can expect to see a lot more beach, but likely less parking. K- rails will be kept in place but placed further back to ensure sand and cobble stay on the beach instead of being tossed into the parking lot.

Will the CCC allow protections to extend the life of Capo Beach Park? Will the County be allowed to move ahead with one of the three optional design plans (unveiled at public meetings last year) to enhance what’s left?

In the coming years, one thing’s for certain – rising sea levels and heavy surf will very likely keep reclaiming inches of shoreline. To coin a phrase from the fight to save the popular beach path, residents are resigned to the fact of continuing erosion but hopeful that they can “keep as much as we can for as long as we can”.