The 26-stall parking lot will be moved seven feet back.

It's not like moving trains or houses away from the edge of crumbling cliffs. But plans to move a small Leucadia parking lot and access trail have faced stiff opposition.

Last week, the Encinitas City Council unanimously voted to deny an appeal of the proposed project at 948 Neptune Avenue, located within a residential neighborhood and just blocks from a beach where three people died when a bluff failed four years ago.

According to a city report, Beacon’s Beach and the path to the sand was created long ago by a series of huge landslides between faults that run through the Beacon’s Beach access path.

The most recent bluff failure was in May 2022. The 26-stall parking lot will be moved seven feet back from an active landslide plane, losing eleven parking spaces in the process.

Beacon's has been named "one of the most unique beaches in the world."

The appeal, filed on behalf of neighbors by coastal land use consultant Chandra Slavens, argues that the best way to ensure safety is by stabilizing the existing parking lot and making public access a "long term solution."

Slavens called for strategies such as beach nourishment, saying Beacon's has been named "one of the most unique beaches in the world." Opponents said the work would cause illegal wastewater and stormwater diversion, unaddressed by the city.

Mitch Silverstein, policy coordinator for San Diego Surfrider Foundation, supported the decision to deny the appeal, saying it stems from a small group of seawall advocates.

Councilmembers said they support sand replenishment and that the project is exempt from environmental review because the parking lot is considered a minor structure. They said the appeal incorrectly stated that there is no established bluff failure plane at the parking lot, which a geotechnical report has identified.

The city says the project will provide public access to the beach, as well as public parking. The dirt trail that provides a foot path down to the beach isn't part of the project other than the connection point at the top of the bluff.

Construction is expected to start at the end of the summer. The current public access path - a dirt trail beginning at the parking lot that leads down across the face of the bluff to the sand - will remain open during removal and construction of the lot.

Access will continue to be off Neptune.

To accommodate beach-goers, temporary pedestrian access will occur in phases during construction, they said.