APPEAL STAFF REPORT: SUBSTANTIAL ISSUE DETERMINATION ONLY
Appeal Number: A-3-CML-18-0016
Applicant: City of Carmel-by-the-Sea
Appellant: Maria Sutherland
Local Government: City of Carmel-by-the-Sea
Local Decision: Coastal development permit (CDP) amendment application number 16-315 approved by the Carmel-by-the-Sea City Council on March 6, 2018.
Location: North Dunes area of Carmel Beach (APN 010-321-007) in the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Monterey County.
Project Description: Amendment to existing CDP to authorize additional dune habitat restoration activities in the Carmel Beach North Dunes, including removal of 31 trees (including 17 mature Monterey cypress trees, four mature Monterey pine trees, and 10 trees with a diameter of less than eight inches) and the planting of three Monterey cypress trees along the Ocean Avenue frontage to provide for tree succession in that area.
Staff Recommendation: No Substantial Issue
SUMMARY OF STAFF RECOMMENDATION
The City of Carmel-by-the-Sea approved a coastal development permit amendment (CDP) to remove up to 31 trees within the Carmel Beach North Dunes restoration area. The five-acre North Dunes project site is located on the north and west edge of the City just inland from Carmel Beach and is the largest and most diverse dune habitat remaining in the City. The amendment includes removal of 17 mature Monterey cypress trees and four mature Monterey pine trees together with an additional 10 smaller trees to provide for restoration activities within the sand dunes. Three Monterey cypress trees would be planted in the dunes along the Ocean Avenue parking lot to provide for tree succession in that area. The amendment also provides for timing of the tree removal to avoid bird nesting season.
The Appellant contends that the approved project is inconsistent with both the Carmel-by-the Sea Local Coastal Program (LCP) and the North Dunes and Del Mar Dunes Habitat Restoration Plan (Restoration Plan) policies related to the identification, evaluation, maintenance, and replacement of forest resources within the North Dunes habitat area. After reviewing the local record, Commission staff has concluded that the approved project does not raise a substantial issue with respect to the project’s conformance with the Carmel-by-the-Sea LCP.
In terms of the Appellant’s contentions, the tree removal is intended to enhance habitat values for native dune plant and animal species, and is consistent with the LCP’s environmentally sensitive habitat protection policies and is envisioned in the dune restoration policies that are specific to this particular site. Cypress and Monterey pine trees impede the growth of native dune plants and their duff degrades the delicate soil chemistry upon which native dune species depend. The tree removal will occur mostly within the interior of the North Dunes, an area that provides the greatest opportunity for re-establishment of sensitive dune species and restoration of dune habitat values, and ensures that the remaining tree density is brought closer in line with LCP requirements. Further, the CDP amendment includes planting of three Monterey cypress trees along the Ocean Avenue parking lot to provide for tree succession in that area as called for in the LCP and as necessary to maintain the scenic Carmel Beach / shoreline aesthetic. To the extent that the Appellant is arguing that the amendment does not include additional specific maintenance and tree replacement measures, such arguments are unwarranted including because the authorization to carry out those tasks has been granted via the base CDP for the North Dunes restoration activities and the CDP amendment does not alter any of those measures.
As a result, and as recommended by the Commission’s Staff Ecologist, who has reviewed the local record and concurred that the City’s CDP action will serve as a needed and beneficial project to restore important dune habitat, staff recommends that the Commission determine that the appeal contentions do not raise a substantial LCP conformance issue, and that the Commission decline to take jurisdiction over the CDP for this project. The single motion necessary to implement this recommendation is found on page 4 below.
REFERENCE: California Coastal Commission
Draft Meeting Agenda
May 2018
