Coyote Point Repairs & Meeting

[pthorner]

San Mateo County Parks is still working on plans to install temporary access ramps at along the eroded shoreline at Coyote Point. They also are working on the planning for a permanent fix. A key meeting is coming up this Thursday.

San Mateo County Parks Department will hold a workshop on Thursday night to examine various alternatives for the permanent replacement/repair of the Coyote Point Promenade.

Date: September 27, 2007
Time: 7:00-9:00 p.m.
Location: San Mateo City Hall, City Council Chambers
Address: 330 West 20th Ave., San Mateo

If you have any questions about this workshop and proposed project, please contact Senior Planner Sam Herzberg at 650.363.1823 or sherzberg@co.sanmateo.ca.us

The preferred alternative would involve creation of a pocket beach similar to the beach that was created at Marina Bay in Richmond (west of Shimada Park).

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=richmond,+ca&ie=UTF8&ll=37.90805,-122.350493&spn=0.001122,0.002087&t=k&z=19&om=1

The shoreline could be pulled back some, so there might be some loss of parking although the beach area might be focused in the area where the concession building now sits. The concession building would eventually be demolished and replaced further back and at a higher elevation. I believe that the pathway may also need to be raised in elevation to comply with federal flooding/tsunami run up regulations, so the design of ramps and transitions will be all that much more important.

This planning process is going forward using funds donated by the San Mateo County Parks & Recreation Foundation (www.SupportParks.org). San Mateo County Parks & Recreation Foundation is a non profit that raises funds for park projects and planning. The budget of the county parks does not provide these funds. If you are looking for a place to make a charitable donation, you might want to seriously consider the Park Foundation.

San Mateo County Park Foundation has also provided funding for the permitting and installation of temporary ramps which will likely be installed in April 2008 since the permits will not issued in time to install the ramps before the October seasonal work stoppage for water quality. The temporary ramps will be large sand bag ramps with one located at the west end of the parking lot and one located near the concession building. The ramps will be long enough that they should have a slope that is not too steep.

There are also other documents that might be of interest regarding the Coyote Point Park Master Plan at www.eparks.net, but I have not had time to review all of this stuff. I know that they had plans to install nice rigging surfaces but put them on hold until the repair plan is figured out.

If anyone can make the Thursday meeting, please let me know.

Peter Thorner
San Francisco Boardsailing Association

[sergem]

[mogunn]

The following is my email to Peter about last evening's meeting:

Hi Peter,

Just wanted to briefly touch base with you about last night's meeting. In attendance were Sam Herzberg, Julia Bott, Bob Battalio, David Brew, Scott Nix, Jim Magrath and I.

David and Bob presented historical data with images about Coyote Point's history as a regional recreational beach. They explained the erosion problems we are currently experiencing and offered a number of alternatives with pros and cons, that might be implemented to address the issue.

Of the alternatives, one IMO, stood clearly as the best solution, that being construction of a pocket beach to the east of the concession building extending to the base of the headland thereby creating a large and attractive sandy beach for swimmers, waders and sunbathers in approximately the same location as the current swimming beach.

After much discussion, to address the windsurf launch without any pocket beaches, Bob suggested that it might be possible to re-grade the windsurf beachfront to a gentle slope reinforced with riprap and overlaid with armorflex to approximate the fix from years ago.

This solution would impact parking in both the swimmers beach lot and the windsurf beach lot. Sam suggested that further study was necessary to deal with the parking issues but hinted that other unused space in the park might be available to make up for the loss.

The meeting was very positive with everyone looking to a restoration that will benefit multiple user groups while keeping the windsurf and swim areas safely separated.

Bob and David will consolidate the information and ideas from last evening for a future public presentation at a Park and Rec Comission meeting.

I also want to note that Scott Nix's presence at the meeting was extremely beneficial in proving that kiters and windsurfers are working in harmony towards a good solution for the restoration of Coyote Point. I'm surprised that the new concessionaires didn't attend and offer support.

[sergem]

Thank you, Mo!
It is good to know someone is watching the thing while slackers like me are not in the attendance!