The La Jolla Parks & Beaches board, with the La Jolla Coastal Conservancy, is looking to replace “temporary” stake-and-rope fences installed more than a decade ago along La Jolla’s Whale View Point with something more permanent and consistent with other barriers in the area.
The board voted at its April 27 meeting to transfer more than $12,000 from its Whale View Point account to the conservancy to pay for installation of natural-looking wooden posts connected by metal chains. Whale View Point spans between the La Jolla coastline around 274 Coast Blvd. and the northern end of the Wedding Bowl along Coast Boulevard near Cuvier Street.
In 2012 or 2013, the stake-and-rope barriers were installed between the sidewalk and the bluffs to encourage pedestrians to stay off the cliffs and use beach access stairs, said LJP&B President Ann Dynes.
Though the project was “successful,” she said, “in admiring the post-and-chain along [Coast Walk Trail], I thought it might be cool to replace the temporary stakes with post-and-chain that are consistent with the coastline look.”
Dynes connected with LJP&B and La Jolla Coastal Conservancy member Brenda Fake, who agreed the project is needed.
“People have the right to access the beach, but how they access that beach has to be managed from a visitor’s standpoint and environmental impact … so to keep people from going off [the sidewalk] and beating up the vegetation, we can redirect them” with post-and-chains, Fake said.
The posts would be about 3 feet tall to reduce visual impacts.
The La Jolla Parks & Beaches board meets April 27 at the La Jolla/Riford Library. (Ashley Mackin-Solomon)
Fake said a contractor approved by the city of San Diego that has done work in the area agreed to take on the project and the city approved the proposal.
Fake estimated the work would cost just over $16,000. With the $12,000 from the LJP&B account dedicated to Whale View Point tasks, the conservancy plans to collect the remaining funds needed through donations. The project could start the last week of May or first week of June if the funding is available, according to the organizers.
The La Jolla Coastal Conservancy formed in 2025, inspired by the public/private collaboration between the city and La Jolla’s Friends of Coast Walk Trail, of which Fake is president. It aims to provide a mechanism for private entities to conduct repairs on city land by using a right-of-entry permit rather than starting from scratch for each project.
The conservancy has a three-year right-of-entry permit with an option for a two-year renewal. The group drafted a list of projects it said could be done immediately under the permit, including repairs to belvederes, or gazebos, in La Jolla parks and fixing various beach access stairs that have been closed because of safety concerns.
Other Parks & Beaches news
Concours concerns: Some Parks & Beaches board members expressed concern about the condition of Scripps Park following last weekend’s La Jolla Concours d’Elegance car show.
Dynes said there was “not insubstantial damage” to the grass, and member Kurt Hoffman added that he observed “divots all over” the day after the April 26 event and that “all the grass has been pushed down … and beat up to heck.”
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Representatives of the Concours d’Elegance could not immediately be reached for comment.
When the show’s organizers were seeking approval for the event from local planning groups, they said they would return the park to its previous condition once the Concours was complete.
“We ought to be looking at security deposits for events like that,” Dynes said. “I think it has to be examined before we approve any more of these things.”
She added that because the event is a fundraiser for the La Jolla Historical Society, “this is a lot of money that someone is making at our park. … We should be doing something about that.”
The board agreed to form a working group to examine options for accepting donations or other financial contributions from organizations sponsoring major events at local parks that would be used to make any repairs afterward.
Capital projects list: Continuing a four-year tradition, LJP&B will work with other La Jolla community groups such as the La Jolla Shores Association and Bird Rock Community Council to draft a master list of capital improvement requests for the city.
Each year, City Council members are given funds to carry out projects in their districts.
Dynes noted that some proposals from previous years could be resubmitted, include repairing or reconstructing the beach access stairs at South Casa Beach, refurbishing the children’s play equipment at Starkey Park, repairing a closed gazebo at Boomer Beach, resurfacing the street at Neptune Place and more.
This gazebo, or belvedere, in Scripps Park at Boomer Beach, pictured in 2023, is closed due to erosion concerns. (File)
Dynes leaned toward prioritizing repair of the gazebo, and other suggestions at the meeting included repairing the sitting wall that overlooks Point La Jolla, replanting the grass throughout Scripps Park and fixing different beach access stairways.
“We have to pick something low-concept, inexpensive and as budget-friendly for the city as possible,” said LJP&B member Bob Evans. “That is the only hope we have.”
Dynes was authorized to submit a full list of projects for consideration and prioritization before it is sent to the city.
Next meeting: The La Jolla Parks & Beaches board next meets at 4 p.m. Monday, May 25, at the La Jolla/Riford Library, 7555 Draper Ave. Learn more at lajollaparksbeaches.org. ♦