Applicants urge North Beach activation, sand-management planning during Beaches & Parks interviews

Candidates for the Beaches, Parks & Recreation (BPR) panel repeatedly raised the same local questions: how to manage sand, how to use a vacant city-owned lot at North Beach, and how to ensure parks serve families.

Susan Ambrose, a long-serving Coastal Advisory Committee member, described the city's ongoing North Beach sand replenishment monitoring and said the vacant lot could be used for educational events and coastal outreach. "That area would be wonderful if you could do events there that would bring in coastal information to our people and our students," she said.

Several applicants advocated for using the site for markets, amphitheater-style community events, or flexible multiuse space rather than exclusively as parking. Shauna Garcia said the space should be for community activities "where different generations" can gather; other candidates suggested weekend markets, movie nights and small stages for local schools.

Candidates and incumbents also emphasized sand-management work: staff and commissioners have drafted a sand-management policy and a candidate said a report on geologic bluff calculations must be carefully reviewed before inclusion in an LCP to avoid prematurely constraining the city.

Council settled appointments and staggered some terms so future vacancies are distributed across years; staff were directed to publish rosters and to follow up with absent but interested applicants.

Next steps: Parks staff will continue sand-management planning and report back; council and new BPR members will consider public input about the North Beach lot and return options to the council.