Formation of Geological Hazard Abatement District
WHAT IS A GHAD?
In order to develop and implement a plan for the prevention and mitigation of geological hazards, including beach and bluff erosion, a group of property owners may petition the City of Solana Beach to approve the formation of a Geological Hazard Abatement District (GHAD). The GHAD is a state agency governed locally either by the property owners within the boundaries of the agency or by the city council. The GHAD would establish a comprehensive plan to stabilize and maintain bluffs and beaches. Implementation of the plan would be exempt from CEQA as an emergency project, though Coastal Act compliance is required. The GHAD would issue bonds at tax-exempt rates to fund planning, design and construction. Assessments levied on GHAD property owners pay for the bonds and maintenance of improvements. Assessments would be based on the amount of benefit each property receives, with those closer to the hazards paying more.
WHO WOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE GHAD?
The GHAD should include the properties in Solana Beach which would benefit directly from, or be improved by, the stabilization plan. It should also include properties which need to maintain existing stabilization improvements. Properties within the boundaries of the GHAD need not be contiguous, so some property owners could choose not to participate. As a practical matter, if property owners representing more than half of the value of the property within the GHAD objected to participating, the GHAD would fail. In the case of a condominium, the condominium association, as owner of the common areas and typically, the structural portions of the condominium project, would decide whether to participate. Owners of individual condo units who own only airspace might be included or excluded from participation on a case-by-case basis.
WHAT WOULD THIS COST?
We do not currently have estimates of the cost of developing the overall plan of control, getting city and Coastal Commission approval, and constructing the improvements. The cost should be significantly lower than constructing the same improvements as a series of individual projects since: (I) improvements would be financed over many years; (2) only a single approval of the plan of control under the Coastal Act would be needed before implementing it; and (3) there should be economies of sale as a result of designing and constructing improvements for the whole area, rather than for each individual property. Assessments levied would go on property tax bills. Unpaid assessments would become a lien on the property, which the GHAD would decide when to enforce.
HOW IS A GHAD ESTABLISHED?
First, the city must adopt a resolution allowing a GHAD to be established in the city and provide a copy to the State Controller.
Second, the property owners present a petition to form a GHAD. The petition must identify all of the lands to be included in the "district" and the lands owned by the petitioners. It must also include a proposed "plan of control" which describes in detail the geological hazards to be addressed, and how the petitioners plan to abate them. The plan of control would describe the existing conditions along the coast in Solana Beach, as well as the sand retention, bluff stabilization and other mitigation measures proposed to reduce the risk of bluff collapse that endangers the public and properties within the area.
Third, a public hearing is held on the petition, during which property owners can object to the formation. If owners representing more than 50 percent of the assessed value of the property in the GHAD object, the council may not approve it.
Even after it is formed, property owners can ask to be added to the GHAD.
HOW DOES A GHAD OPERATE?
Once the GHAD is approved, the council appoints 5 property owners to serve on the initial governing board. After their initial terms, board members are elected from within the district (unless the council has opted to appoint itself as the governing body, as the Act permits) .
Upon formation, the GHAD is a state agency which holds public meetings under the Brown Act. Improvements it makes to abate geological hazards are statutorily exempt from review under CEQA as "emergency" projects. However, the improvements made by the GHAD would be subject to approval under the Coastal Act.
As a public agency, it would have the authority to levy assessments on the property owners within its boundaries. The amount of the assessments would be based on the special benefits to the property assessed. The GHAD could borrow money from the city, other public agencies, or issue its own debt. It could contract without competitive bidding. It would have condemnation powers.
The "plan of control" would be the basis of one or more improvement projects. Before levying any assessments to pay for a project, every property owner would be told how much they would pay. The board of the GHAD would then hold a public hearing on the proposed project, and property owners could then object to the amount of their assessments, as well as whether their property should be included. The GHAD board could then adjust the plan.
WHAT IS PROPOSED?
The abatement of the geologic hazard, i.e., unstable and eroding coastal bluffs, might include both the construction of an artificial headland, in essence a sand retention device, extending off the public access stairway, extending down slope from Del Mar Shores Terrace and the infill of a stable sand fillet, extending up coast to and beyond Fletcher Cove, along with the stabilization of those coastal bluffs within the City's limits that have destabilized as a result of the 1997-98 El Nino storm season. Of the City's 1.4 miles of coastline, approximately 1,800 feet have been destabilized by significant coastal bluff failures, the stabilization of which would include 35:!:-foot-tall seawalls, and locally the reconstruction of upper slopes where they have previously failed. There is likely an additional 2,000:!: feet of significant notches that have formed at the base of the sea cliffs also in need of stabilization to preclude the collapse of the overhanging sea cliff.
By implementing and maintaining both a sand retention structure (and possibly an additional future structure just north of Fletcher Cove), along with the sand fill retained by the structure and the seawalls and notch fills necessary to stabilize those currently unstable sections of coastal bluff, no additional coastal fortification would be required for upwards of 50 percent of the City's coastline for the foreseeable future. |
