Planning commission approves Westport trail access project with conditions on easements and accessibility

Mendocino County Planning Commission on a unanimous vote approved Coastal Development Use Permit U2023-0012 to establish a recreational segment of the California Coastal Trail near Westport, including a five‑space parking lot (one accessible stall), a stairway to the bluff, informational signage and a trail reroute set farther inland for safety.

The permit, presented by project planner Shelby Miller of Mendocino County Planning and Building Services, covers a lateral bluff‑top trail and a vertical connection from a small parking area to the lateral trail near 39000 North Highway 1, about 1.5 miles north of Westport. The staff report described a biological report and a management plan prepared by the applicant to avoid identified environmentally sensitive habitat areas.

The commission’s approval included edits to conditions requiring an offer to dedicate and to accessibility and signage conditions after extended discussion among commissioners, county staff and the applicant about how to make the permit feasible for a volunteer nonprofit and how to meet county code and building standards for accessible portions of trails.

“Caltrans has approved their driveway and proposed stairway or parking lot,” Miller told the commission, noting the county prepared an initial study and a mitigated negative declaration finding no significant environmental impacts with the recommended conditions.

Thad Van Buren, representing the Westport Village Society, described the property as dominated by heavy vegetation and a wetland depression inland of the bluff and said the group sought the smallest feasible footprint to improve access. “We were a little surprised by the number of conditions imposed on this project,” Van Buren said, adding volunteers obtained a State Coastal Conservancy grant to acquire the parcel and that the group hoped for fewer, less costly conditions.

Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant on several practical issues: the risk of trail braiding if visitors continue to use the existing bluff‑edge path, the cost and maintenance implications of building any portion of trail to accessible‑surface standards, and consolidating multiple signage requirements into one condition. Commissioner Marie Wiedemann warned that previous efforts to keep people off bluff edges produced multiple parallel “braided” paths and said, “the only thing that worked was a 5‑foot high wire fence.”

Staff agreed to seek flexibility with the Coastal Commission and Coastal Conservancy regarding an additional recorded offer to dedicate. Planning staff modified condition 11 so that if the Coastal Commission and Coastal Conservancy determine an existing recorded offer to dedicate (document 2022‑13616) satisfies the requirement, no additional recorded offer would be required. The commission also asked staff to consolidate signage requirements where feasible and to clarify the scope of the county’s accessibility condition so it matches realistic site constraints.

Richard Angley, Mendocino County chief building official, addressed what a “firm, stable” accessible trail surface could mean for the project. He said surfaces such as stabilized decomposed granite, asphalt or concrete are typically used and that “where it’s reasonable to make the trail accessible, it would be a firm stable surface, from the parking area to the accessible portion of the trail.” He added accessibility guidance allows alternate compliance where full continuity is not practicable because of site conditions.

The commission voted to adopt the resolution as amended, with the revised condition language to permit staff to work with the applicant and the Coastal Commission and Conservancy on recording or accepting existing offers to dedicate and to refine the accessibility and signage language. The motion passed unanimously.