County to Install Large Sand Cubes to Protect Capistrano Beach

Fencing was erected Monday along a stretch of County-owned Capistrano Beach Park —from the doomed basketball court to the Park’s eastern border with the Beach Road residential district. Under the direction of OCParks, County Public Works will be removing damaged infrastructure and installing sand cubes to mitigate future damage. Recent storms have devastated the area, ripping a large section of boardwalk off its footings, collapsing sidewalks and undermining the parking lot and other infrastructure.

County officials confirmed that, sadly, the last three storm ravaged palm trees along this segment, still valiantly hanging on by their exposed roots, will need to be sacrificed. They’ll make room for large protective sand-filled “geo cubes” which will serve as temporary emergency protection. A beach shower facility and a parking pay station will also have to go. Remarkably, a weather warn telephone booth in the area still has a dial tone and will stay, at least for now.

Large mounds of sand have already been deposited in the parking lot, and crews will begin filling large, heavy duty cubes with sand in the next few days.

These will join a short row of existing sand bags that were installed at the eastern edge of the park more than a year ago when the relentless Pacific began undermining park infrastructure. County workers will add sand to these as necessary and reposition them along the water’s edge, adding new cubes to extend protection up to the ill-fated basketball court. County officials announced earlier that the court, rippled and undermined along the exposed edge, despite 1,000 tons of rip rap armoring, is marked for demolition along with adjacent rest rooms.

The area will be fenced and closed to the public until work is completed. OC Public Works’ official Construction Alert states the project’s duration as “February to April”. This is a tentative schedule subject to change due to weather and other factors. County officials made it clear that "these efforts are a nonpermanent solution and should be considered provisional."

Local residents continue to visit the park daily, taking advantage of recent low tides to explore the rare driftwood deposited in last week’s storm. Much of the debris will float out to sea and sink naturally. OCParks will remove what’s left in the coming weeks.

Local resident Sandie Iverson noted, “The drift wood is actually kind of pretty. At least we didn’t get trash and litter along with it like they did at Doheny.” She said she was sad to see the destruction but is eager to attend OCParks’ public forum where they will seek public input on plans and options for restoration of the popular beach. Officials stated "Community engagement will be a key component of that plan." The County is working with engineers and other experts along with Coastal Commission staff to determine how best to restore the beach to public use within CCC guidelines. A date for the public forum will be announced in coming weeks.

Meanwhile, locals continue to visit the beach daily, enjoying this popular and beautiful public resource while the County sorts out plans for its restoration.