Quick Take
Surfers have always been an important partner in the City of Santa Cruz’s climate resiliency planning and have helped shape priorities for West Cliff Drive’s future, writes City Manager Matt Huffaker. He refutes a recent Community Voices piece by surfing community members and warns about the spread of false information that confuses the public and makes it difficult to implement needed change. The city has extensive planning efforts underway, all open to feedback from the community, and he says it’s a great time for the public to get engaged on this important work.
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Since the storms in late 2022 and early 2023, Santa Cruz city staff have not stopped working on West Cliff Drive. From long-term planning efforts to emergency response, we have directed thousands of hours of staff time to responding to this important part of our community. It’s disheartening to see a Community Voices op-ed by some members of the surf community that misrepresents the city’s engagement and coastal hazard planning efforts.
The Nov. 21 op-ed suggests the city is ignoring threats from major swells and storm surge events. This is not correct.
PREVIOUSLY IN COMMUNITY VOICES
The local hazard mitigation plan (LHMP) includes resilience to all foreseeable hazards, including coastal storms, erosion and sea-level rise as well as dam failure, drought, earthquake, extreme heat, flood, landslide, tsunami and wildfire. Admittedly, the LHMP can be cumbersome to navigate and uses language recognized by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to meet the 35 federal requirements.
FEMA’s approval of the LHMP helps ensure the city remains eligible for FEMA funding both before and after disasters. Last year, we received over $15 million in grant funding for hazard reduction support. This happened because the city has an approved LHMP in place.
After reading the Community Voices article, I realize some of the surf community is operating under the mistaken conclusion that the LHMP overlooks critical issues like ocean swells and bomb cyclones. That’s not the case. FEMA categorizes these as weather systems, and that’s how we refer to them in the plan.
The resulting hazards – coastal erosion from large wave attacks and flooding from storm surge, excessive rainfall, and strong winds – are addressed. The LHMP uses precise, hazard-focused language to meet requirements, ensuring these risks to West Cliff and other parts of our city are analyzed and mitigated.
Surfers have always had a seat at the table in these talks, and we have offered many opportunities for them and others to weigh in on the multiple coastal and climate resiliency projects and planning efforts underway. Surfers from a variety of groups have participated in coastal resilience planning processes since 2018. In fact, there is no coastal resilience planning project where surfers have not served in advisory roles.
Our teams are committed to facilitating productive processes and conducting transparent, equitable and unbiased engagement to provide data and science to city decision-makers. Collaboration has been a signature of coastal resilience work since 2018, as evidenced by the diverse range of partnerships and participants in coastal resilience projects over the years (and an award from NorCal American Planning Association for Excellent Equitable Engagement for these efforts).
Specifically, in 2019 through 2022, the Longboard Union and the Santa Cruz Surfing Club Preservation Society held seats on the technical advisory committee for the West Cliff Drive Adaptation and Management Plan and a surfer focus group was a part of the outreach for this project. Subsequently, Save the Waves participated as one of 13 local, state and federal partners in developing a coastal change monitoring network, funded by the National Science Foundation (2022-23), and Save the Waves and other organizations participated in the Local Coastal Program Amendment community meeting in 2022. Three of the 12 members of the West Cliff 50-year vision focus group were surfers, and surfers comprised half of the community members selected for the West Cliff Implementation Committee (WCIC). Between 2019 and 2024, city staff also served on the World Surfing Reserve Local Stewardship Council. And there have been dozens of in-person and virtual community meetings with strong surf community participation.
The city also regularly engages with other local surfing organizations, including Surfrider, Black Surf Santa Cruz and, more recently, Save West Cliff. One thing that is clear from all this engagement is that surfers have a range of opinions on how to deal with coastal hazards.
So, why are these particular surfers upset?
WEST CLIFF DRIVE’S FUTURE: Read previous Lookout news and opinion coverage here
They suggest their voice has not been heard in coastal planning processes, yet we have heard in a variety of ways that different surfers want different things, and sometimes what they want, like others, may be in conflict with what the majority of the community wants or what is within regulatory feasibility.
The anger directed at city staff is misplaced, and the spread of misinformation is undermining this important work and the community’s trust in the process.
Our staff are dedicated to this work and take pride in bringing innovative and community-based solutions to some of Santa Cruz’s biggest issues. Attempts to vilify staff and spread misinformation about the work being done only harms our community and has the potential to slow down this essential work.
If community dialogue continues in this manner, we will continue the status quo – the do-nothing scenario – something we all have repeatedly agreed we do not want. It’s time for the conversation to shift from targeting the process and the staff to working together to prepare proactively for coastal changes.
In light of the Community Voices article, I want to also share some updates and reaffirm the city’s commitment to ensuring West Cliff remains accessible to all. And it’s the perfect time to get involved if you’re just joining the conversation.
The city is working on several planning efforts both specifically on West Cliff, and throughout our coastal areas. We work hard to align these plans with one another. Some documents, like the LHMP, are regulatory and/or funding-based in nature. Others that focus on creating community vision and implementation plans, like the 5-Year Roadmap for West Cliff, lend themselves to developing with the community.
In November, our team reported on the results of the collaborative, community-centered journey to develop a roadmap for West Cliff. The roadmap will be the first phase in carrying out the 50-year community vision for West Cliff adopted by the city council in April 2024. The 50-year vision represents our community’s aspirations for what West Cliff will look like in 50 years and how the community wants to use West Cliff for future generations.
The vision and roadmap development has included an unprecedented amount of community engagement incorporating feedback with more to come. The draft roadmap will include specific projects the community and the WCIC helped rank for inclusion in what the city can deliver in five years.
The next significant milestone comes this month when we will bring this collaborative effort back to the public for a deeper dive. We will be asking for feedback on the draft starting in mid-December through late January.
Other complementary projects are also happening. For example, the new local coastal program beaches and bluffs chapter will have public input opportunities in the first half of 2025 and the nature-based solutions feasibility study, informed by two focus groups that include three surfing representatives, will bring options to the public to consider at an upcoming Dec. 12 virtual meeting.
We will continue to center our efforts around equity, do the challenging work of meeting people where they are and hearing from voices that historically have not been part of the conversation. Examples of this include collaboration and engagement with our Beach Flats and Lower Ocean neighborhoods, where we have conducted numerous bilingual focus groups through a partnership with Community Bridges. We have used the arts and gamification as access points to many in this largely Spanish-speaking community.
We are serious about preserving our coastal resources. Our coast’s recreational opportunities, the well-being it brings to our community and the world-class waves, views and experiences they offer are unmatched.
When we allow blame, division, and discord to take over, we all lose – our progress, our trust and our shared goals. We are committed to ensuring our community’s vision is implemented and ask the community to join us in this continued partnership with trust and respect.
Matt Huffaker is the city manager of the City of Santa Cruz.