Ambrose Masto, M.D.
President, Capistrano Bay District, Capo Beach
We all love Dana Point. Last week, the DP Times showcased two letters. Toni Nelson wrote an article concerning the beach erosion problems that have affected the city’s coastlines. The letter outlined several methods that both coastal property owners and the city have employed to help deal with the coastal problems. These have included placing rip rap boulders along the coast protecting beach parking lots, public rest room facilities, as well as transferring tons of sand that had collected in the Harbor area and pumping it to Capistrano Beach. Other solutions were mentioned including building low level seawalls and placing protective boulders but environmentalists as well as the California Coastal Commission (CCC) generally are negative about these solutions.
Another letter was submitted by Jennifer Savage, California policy manager at Surfrider Foundation. This letter essentially was negative to all forms of beach protection, saying basically that “armoring” the beach not only fails to protect the beach but they protect structures and coastal developments at the cost of the beach, and they also destroy public access. Also, predictions of rising seas by 2030 make all these kneejerk responses to protect property along the coast expensive to the taxpayer and worthless because the policy of “managed retreat” is the only smart answer to the problem. Now, managed retreat is supported by the CCC as well as the Surfrider Foundation. And it is this fact alone that should alert all people who are concerned about their property rights and unjust and illegal seizure of private property that they look into what is implied in the theory of managed retreat, a nonsense euphemism by which a government allows itself to seize a private property without compensation to the legal owner.
I urge you to realize what truly is going on behind the managed retreat approach and work with our responsible civic leaders.
To submit a letter to the editor, email editorial@danapointtimes.com.
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