Save Our Coastline

 

“Proposed development on the fragile San Clemente Bluff poses a severe threat to our precious coastline and surrounding community.”

We are San Clemente community members who are concerned about saving Toledo Canyon and the bluff at the end of La Rambla. Developers are planning to build two homes on the top of the bluff, at the end of La Rambla, and five homes around the base of the bluff, on Boca Del Canon. This property was subject to massive landslides over the years. For this and other reasons, no development has been approved for this property for over 50 years, let alone approval of 7 homes.

And for the last 50 years, on a daily basis, hundreds of San Clemente residents have used this bluff for public access to the beach and for viewing the coastline.

The California legislature, most notably in the Coastal Act of 1976, has provided our elected and appointed officials with the power to preclude or substantially limit this threatened development. We believe that this development, like prior efforts to develop the property should not be allowed because…

Section 30253

requires that “New development shall…(m)inimize risks to life and property in areas of high geologic…hazard,” which this bluff indisputably is, and “(a)ssure stability and structural integrity” without “in any way requir(ing) the construction of protective devices that would substantially alter natural land forms along bluffs and cliffs.”

 

Section 30210 - 30212

require that new development provide public access particularly where, as here, the public has acquired rights through historical use.

 

Section 30251

requires that the “scenic and visual qualities of coastal areas shall be considered and protected as a resource of public importance.”

 
 
Point Usage 5.jpg

Our mission is to raise awareness about this potential development, prevent the loss of the public’s established use of this property for over 50 years, and help avoid the devastating impact this proposed development would have on the San Clemente coastline, given the historic instability of the bluff.