La Jolla residents hoping for an imminent California Coastal Commission hearing about the continuing restrictions on public access at the Scripps Coastal Reserve will have to wait a bit longer.
A third letter from Coastal Commission staff to UC San Diego has even more questions about the “managed access” to the reserve, which is istered by the university. The scenic property is adjacent to UCSD’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla.
The latest letter, submitted July 18, centers on UCSD’s responses to previous requests for information about the history of the gate at the site, when nearby Sumner Canyon was closed, a biological conditions report and access issues.
The reserve encomes nearly 1,000 acres, including an upland area called the “Knoll” or “Cliffs” and the shoreline and Marine Protected Area below the cliffs. It can be viewed from a half-mile loop trail along what is known as the Mesa across the top of the reserve.
The property has been predominantly closed to the public since the beginning of statewide COVID-19 pandemic restrictions in March 2020. Volunteer maintenance is allowed from 8 to 10 a.m. Fridays and a docent-led tour is offered from 9 to 11 a.m. the first Saturday of each month.
Before the restrictions, the reserve was open from 7 a.m. to sunset daily. Now its gate is locked unless tours are being given or the reserve is being used by UCSD students.
In January this year, UCSD filed a permit application with the Coastal Commission with a twofold request: continued restricted access to the site and retroactive approval for the gate.
The California Coastal Act requires a coastal development permit for a change of access to a coastal site, and several local residents have accused the university of violating that law by continuing to limit public access after pandemic restrictions were lifted and not applying for a permit until this year.
Commission staff had questions about the application and sent a letter requesting more information, starting months of back-and-forth communication.
The most recent letter states that public testimony submitted to the commission conflicts with information UCSD provided.
For example, the letter says, UCSD stated that “university staff is not aware of unmanaged public access prior to 2012, as the … gates were locked at all times except for use authorized by the UC NRS [University of California Natural Reserve System].”
However, the letter continues, “we have received public testimony that indicates UC NRS welcomed the public and encouraged people to visit the Knoll previous to the 2012 gate installation, as well as documents suggesting there were no time restrictions in place.”
In addition, the university stated that a request to close the trail between the reserve and Sumner Canyon was made in 2018 and that the trail was abandoned around that time.
“However, we have received public testimony that the trail was still being used by the public up until the March 2020 closure,” the commission staff letter states. “The member of the public also sent us … [a] document that includes aerial photographs in chronological order showing that no obstruction to the trail is visible in March 2020 and that physical blockage of the trail only becomes discernible in December 2020.”
The letter also raises questions about the university’s list of biological resources, historic trails, restoration efforts for native plants, removal of weeds and invasive species, and more.
“The university’s response notes that invasive weed seeds of devil’s thorn (Emex spinosa) were regularly brought in and spread throughout the reserve on visitor’s shoes, resulting in hundreds of hours of volunteer effort to hand-remove the plant,” the letter states. “Please describe where invasive Emex spinosa removal has occurred over time and the approximate time frame when it was removed.”
On access issues, the letter says “the university’s response stated that guided tours have been offered since the 2020 pandemic restrictions on outdoor gatherings were lifted and that the current regular Friday maintenance volunteer opportunities have been offered since July 2021.”
However, the staff received “correspondence from a member of the public asserting that guided tours and limited volunteer hours were not being offered as late as November 2021.”
The La Jolla Light reported that those started in January 2022.
The university has 45 days to respond to the most recent letter. Should that resolve all outstanding issues, a hearing on the matter will be scheduled. A date has not yet been determined.
An istrative post on the Scripps Coastal Reserve’s Facebook page last year said visitors’ misuse of the area was the primary reason for the closure.
During previous “unsupervised public access,” the post stated, “native plants and animals were routinely disturbed and displaced, instruments could not be left to operate unattended, natural processes were disrupted and resources were routinely damaged.”
“We learned during the pandemic how much better we needed to manage this land for the purpose of fulfilling our mandate not only as a program of the University of California but also specifically as a state of California trustee agency,” the post said. ♦
