High Surf Brings More Destruction to Capo Beach

Capistrano Beach residents were alarmed and saddened this weekend to see more destruction at their beloved little namesake beach. In the past few years, they’ve become used to regular sand and cobble incursion in the parking lot, chunks of sidewalk being undermined, and palm trees falling into the surf. Almost two years ago, a beloved boardwalk dramatically collapsed into the ocean, necessitating the removal of a basketball court, restrooms and other infrastructure.

OC Parks, which manages the property for the County of Orange, did its best. They cleaned things up, erected a new fenced area for fire pits, installed port-a-potties and created what they thought was a temporary fix. Most importantly, they placed huge sand bags in vulnerable areas and installed k-rails along the length of the parking lot to keep sand and cobble on the beach side where it belonged. The park wasn’t pretty, but it was serviceable. The community was looking forward to plans for a more complete restoration. Last year, the County held two well attended public workshops to that end, with three possible designs unveiled to create an attractive little park for beachgoers.

This weekend, residents’ hopes turned to despair as two nights of very high tides, coupled with 4 to 6 foot swells wreaked havoc on what's left of the park. Powerful surf deposited up to a foot of sand, plus rocks, cobble and debris on shore, ripping giant sand bags apart, overtaking protective k-rails and tossing heavy concrete trash cans and benches around like toys. Large chunks of sidewalk were cracked, buckled or undermined, and a large hole that had opened up recently at the south end of the property tripled in size. Concrete beams protecting the parking lot infrastructure cracked apart and asphalt buckled and collapsed. The narrow historic beach trail linking Capistrano and Doheny Beaches was similarly undermined, with sand gouged from beneath the raised path exposing roots and threatening palm trees.

Most worrying to residents of nearby Beach Road, a beautiful enclave of 200 homes on the sand immediately next to Capistrano Beach Park, is that the collapse of the beach parking lot bodes ill for adjacent properties. Some homes along the stretch, particularly at the north end, sustained damage to windows, decks and other structure as the aggressive waves formed towers of surging whitewater, sometimes splashing roof high.

Capo Beach residents were dismayed to see their beach destroyed yet again. On community Facebook page, Capo Cares, comments like “oh no!”, “it breaks my heart”, “it was so intense” were mixed with practical suggestions to “build a seawall” (not likely, due to Coastal Commission policies), “replenish the sand” "get more rip rap" (large boulders) or “dredge the ocean.”

OC Parks clearly has a huge task ahead of it. Crews were already on scene Sunday morning shoveling sand from the path, scraping the parking lot, and thankfully, using heavy machinery at low tide to push sand to shore up the threatened path. According to Parks officials, they’ll have to remove damaged infrastructure first. That will likely include the old wooden seawall and a second concrete wall along the water’s edge. Chunks of both were torn away by the surf, seriously damaging the infrastructure and creating a safety hazard in front of the former basketball court.

There was one bright spot at the scene of destruction. It became abundantly clear that the k-rails functioned well to keep most of the sand on the ocean side of the parking lot. Thick deposits of sand had created an “insta-beach” on the water side of the rails, even though they were too close to shore to fully protect the parking lot. One option under consideration is to sacrifice parking, unfortunately, and move the concrete structures back to create a wider natural beach that might stay in place. County officials are preparing an emergency plan to submit to the CCC to save whatever they can.

Whatever the outcome for Capo Beach Park, one thing is certain. Man will do his best to protect his property, but nature will ultimately win.