San Clemente’s beaches are in desperate need of sand.
As trucks begin dumping up to 50,000 cubic yards of new sand on North Beach — a project that’s costing the city $2 million — council members are grappling with how they’re going to be able to fund future sand replenishment efforts.
Officials are now considering if a sales tax increase could be the additional revenue needed to build up the city’s beaches.
Coastal erosion has been chipping away at San Clemente’s shoreline for decades as the city battles landslides, bridge failures and sand loss along the coast.
“The beach is the reason we live here, the reason why we love it so much,” Councilmember Steve Knoblock said at last week’s council meeting.
“It’s critically important to all of us, there’s absolutely no question about that, and we need to do what we can to get sand on our beach as quickly as possible and as affordable as possible,” he said.
Bolstering San Clemente’s beaches, for many, means preserving the city’s quality of life and economic development, much of which depends on the coast to drive tourism and local spending.
While cities like Huntington Beach and Newport Beach have made sand replenishment projects a common practice, some of San Clemente’s beaches have become filled with rocks and pebbles as the sand disappears.
The problem is especially clear during high tide, when the sand completely disappears in some areas.
[Read: Bolstering South Orange County’s Coastline]
San Clemente only started major sand replenishment efforts this year.
“Some of the beaches that we want to be more like, whether it be Newport Beach or Huntington Beach, they’re in phases 12 or 13 of the same project,” City Manager Andy Hall said. “It takes a long time to build up this sand.”
The council is looking at a variety of different methods to bring new sand back onto their coastline, including a partnership with the United States Army Corps of Engineers that’s aiming to place two million cubic yards of sand over the next 50 years between Linda Lane and T Street beaches.
Additionally, the city is also looking to place 100,000 cubic yards of sand on other beaches each year.
But all that sand will cost the city millions every year.
Is A New Tax The Solution?
City council members are looking at increasing the city’s sales tax in order to fund future projects that will bring more sand to the coast and keep San Clemente a beach town that residents and tourists can enjoy.
Last month, the council approved an emergency $2 million contract to bring up to 50,000 cubic yards of sand — sourced from the Santa Ana River — to North Beach.
“Sand is free. Trucking it for three months and moving it around on the beach is not,” Hall said.
[Read: Is San Clemente Sinking Into the Sea?]
Hall estimated that it will cost the city approximately $10 million each year to reach their sand replenishment goals.
The city is paying for 50% of the cost of the Army Corps project, which Hall said will cost approximately $2 million per year for the next 50 years.
Hall said placing 100,000 cubic yards of sand on other beaches will cost about $7 million annually, and annual beach maintenance will cost another $1 million.
The council is mulling a 0.75% sales tax increase that’s estimated to generate about $10 million per year — enough for the city to cover its share of the Army Corps project, beach maintenance and the annual placement of 100,000 cubic yards of sand on other beaches.
San Clemente’s sales tax is currently 7.75%.
If the proposal is placed on the ballot and approved by city voters in November, it would increase to 8.5%.
The council is meeting on Aug. 6 to decide whether or not to place the sales tax increase on the November ballot.
If the council approves placing the item on the ballot, it would need a supermajority — at least 66.7% of voters supporting it — to pass since it has a specific use.
That means the generated revenue could only be used toward sand replenishment efforts.
“The beach community that we all deserve and love, I know it is not there right now,” Mayor Victor Cabral said at the meeting. “It doesn’t exist. You walk down to North Beach and you see rocks.”
Councilmember Mark Enmeier voiced concern that they may not be able to reach the 66.7% approval rating.
“I’m really worried,” Enmeier said, “because if this doesn’t pass, we don’t have a beach town.”
Will The Tax Even Make It On The Ballot?
Normally, councils only need a simple majority to pass items.
But since this is a ballot measure, four of the five members will need to cast “yes” votes at the Aug. 6 meeting to place the sales tax increase in front of voters in November.
It’s unclear if that will happen after last week’s meeting.
Councilmembers Knoblock and Chris Duncan already expressed that they don’t support increasing taxes.
“I like the focus on the sand,” Knoblock said. “I think that needs to be all of our priority. I can’t support a tax increase, so I’ll be voting no, but I appreciate the focus that you’re aiming at.”
Duncan said the state should be helping out more and allocating more funding for San Clemente to protect their coastal access.
“I’m not for taxing San Clemente residents to address a regional issue that’s a state responsibility,” he said.
Angelina Hicks is a Voice of OC Tracy Wood Reporting Fellow. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.
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