Rockslide in La Jolla raises questions about plan for beach access stairs

A recent rockslide on the bluff side of Princess Street in La Jolla is raising questions about a plan to build a beach access stairway there.

Several large boulders fell from the bluff face onto the beach below near a spot where the proposed beach stairway would end. It wasn’t clear exactly when the slide occurred, though word spread about it in mid-October.

The project would build stairs running from the end of Princess Street, near Torrey Pines Road, to the ocean. The stairs would be publicly accessible between two houses, and a locked gate that has been in place since 1979 would be opened. The gate, installed when a property owner built a house there, blocked access to a trail that fishermen, divers and surfers had used since the early 1900s as a path to the beach.

The stairs would be about 5 feet wide, and the number would vary based on the length of the stairway between the landings. They would be made of wood and feature steel threads instead of handrails. There would be eight landings, some of which would have benches. There also would be stairs at the bottom that were previously referred to as a “ship’s ladder” between the last landing and the sand but now are being referred to as “steps to the beach” due to concerns about the stability of stairs with the ship’s ladder style.

Pam Heatherington, acting director of the Environmental Center of San Diego, which is managing the project, previously said efforts to build the accessway have been in place since 2017 but the desire has been there for decades. La Jolla planning groups have given their support to the project.

The stairs would be designed around the existing geological features, and those designs have to “pass muster with the [California] Coastal Commission, which will have the final say” on whether the project moves forward, Heatherington said.

More recently she told the La Jolla Light that she was not familiar with the boulders that fell but added that rockslides are “being taken into consideration every step of the way.”

“We are acutely aware of the potential of this happening,” she said. “Since the 1970s, the geotechnical reports for the property with the vertical access easement at the end of Princess Street, and the adjacent upcoast and downcoast properties, have documented ongoing erosion of the coastal bluffs. The reports predict that process will continue here and elsewhere in La Jolla and on the coastal bluffs in San Diego County.”

As a result, Heatherington said, “the operator will carry insurance pursuant to our agreements with the state and the management plan.”

She did not clarify who the operator is and did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.

Last year, the relatives of three women killed in a 2019 bluff collapse at Grandview Beach in Encinitas reached a settlement totaling more than $32 million with the state, the city of Encinitas and coastal property owners.

Some critics of the Princess Street stairway plan argue the increased public access would have negative impacts on people who live in the area and could lead to higher fire risk in the bluff vegetation.

Some also argue that other beach access points are nearby and that there is no need for the Princess Street stairway.