Post-rain O.B. bluff crumble

Two properties just south of the Ocean Beach Pier lost their bluffs over the weekend, dropping large boulders, wooden planks, and debris on the sandstone below.

Pelican Point apartment complex, located at 5107 Narragansett Avenue, and the neighboring property to the south (1783–1787 Ocean Front Street) were both affected.

A resident of Pelican Point (who wished to not be identified) told me when he went to bed on Friday (January 27) the bluff was intact. “When I woke up Saturday morning it was gone.”

Property owners were not available for comment, but representatives for Pelican Point were there on January 28 placing tarps along the bluff. Though there was no reported damage to the structure itself, the seawall located below the property is crushed.

Below the Ocean Front property, which is also an apartment complex, the lowest portion of the bluff slid down and took the retaining wall with it. Large boulders now block a portion of the cliffs, making passage possible only during lower tides.

As a resident of Ocean Beach with my own bluff in the process of collapsing, I know the process of repairing these bluffs is lengthy. If the damage is on private property and owners decide to "fix" the bluffs, it can take years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. We lost half our bluff three years ago and have permits pending to rebuild. Between the City of San Diego, the California Coastal Commission, and local planning board, there are numerous mandated geological and soil reports that had to be done.

This is the fourth bluff collapse south of the pier in as many years. The ends of Bermuda and Pescadero avenues have both undergone repairs, the property I live on will begin repairs soon, and according to the contractors working on the properties, there is a home at the end of Point Loma Avenue that also has some heavy erosion going on under the home that needs repairs.

Last week, during the Ocean Beach Town Council meeting, representative Conrad Wear from Lori Zapf’s Office said that the stairs to the right of the affected area as well as the damaged Bermuda Avenue stairs are on their priority list for next year's budget.