Dave Hardy has owned and operated the Beachside Bar Cafe for 20 years.
It has been a long run, giving him a front-row seat to the winter storm surges that gnaw at the surrounding property -- Goleta Beach Park, which Santa Barbara County owns.
"The community doesn't understand how close it is to being washed away," he said Friday.
But it's not just pounding surf that has Mr. Hardy troubled.
A dispute about how to address chronic erosion at the park has split stakeholders into two distinct camps -- those who favor artificial barriers to the destructive force of wave energy and those who prefer a different approach.
The latter camp in particular likes a concept known as "managed retreat," in which structures, underground utilities, grass and perhaps parking spots are moved or removed so the shoreline can recede as nature dictates.
Though not new, the dispute pits a tradition of recreation against the ebb and flow of coastal processes. And it holds particular significance with each passing winter day.
Goleta Beach is one of 23 parks managed by the county, and officials say it is the most heavily visited of them all. The park is already partially armored against erosion with revetments along its eastern flank, rocks near the restaurant and rocks along its western end.
In October 2003, crews widened the beach by importing sand in an experimental, $2Êmillion attempt to reduce erosion. The "beach nourishment" program involved moving nearly 80,000 cubic yards of sand dredged from the Santa Barbara waterfront.
Posted by gandlwoods at December 20, 2004 08:46 AM