Oside selects site for sand pilot program

The City Council approves Phase 2 to begin between Tyson St. Park and Wisconsin Avenue, along with final design, engineering and environmental elements of the sand retention program

The city of Oceanside is moving into the next phase of its RE:BEACH sand retention pilot program. Steve Puterski photo

OCEANSIDE — The city’s aggressive new beach sand nourishment and retention pilot program will begin at The Strand south of the Oceanside Pier.

The City Council approved staff moving forward to finish the final design, engineering and environmental compliance elements of its RE:BEACH program during Wednesday’s meeting. The council also selected the beach segment from Tyson Street Park to Wisconsin Avenue as the first site to execute the pilot program.

International Coastal Management of Australia was selected as the winner of the city’s RE:BEACH competition with its “living speed bumps” concept to address the city’s coastline south of Oceanside Pier. The living speed bumps concept proposes to construct one multi-purpose offshore artificial reef and two headlands, supported by nearshore and onshore beach nourishment, according to Jayme Timberlake, the city’s coastal zone administrator.

“So now we understand exactly where we’re going to be locating the project so that kicks us into the next phase,” Timberlake explained. “The next phase is to really take in all the data, Scripps bouy data, all of our baseline monitoring data, beach volumes and those types of things. Basically, conditions of our shoreline and bring that into our modeling on the numerical modeling and trying to get some funding for the physical modeling, too.”

The segment is 2,200 feet long, while the headlands span 200 feet by 200 feet into the ocean. A reef will also be constructed between the headlands, Timberlake said. She said those elements, along with the dune will help retain sand and give new life to the city’s rocky southern coastline.

The dunes came under fire from Mayor Esther Sanchez and several residents, who said they don’t fit with the nature-based component of the project and could hinder access in high-activity areas.