THE BIG PICTURE
We all signed up to #savewestcliff because we love this place.
West Cliff is more than West Cliff Drive. It's a place, a living ecosystem. It's where we come to clear our heads, exercise, meet friends and share experiences. It gives us joy!
We walk, surf, bike, walk the dog, run, observe nature, drive, and much more.
Fig 1: Early results from your submissions
To save West Cliff, we need to align on what it is, what we use it for, and the benefits it provides our community. Then we must take the most critical step together; create a joint vision of what it should be for our kids and their kids.
It's going to be challenging. Some say impossible. But we are going to give it our best shot!
This is why we call it mission impossible and why many have accepted that challenge. We will provide a real legacy to future generations if we can meet this challenge.
Once we have reimagined West Cliff, we can start creating it.
EMERGENCY STABILIZATION & REPAIRS
Before we reimagine West Cliff, we must address the current emergency. We must fix roads, walkways, bike lanes, and surf access and make the basic infrastructure functional again.
And to their credit, our City is moving fast!
Fig 2: Cranes at Bethany Curve, Jan 23, 2023 (pic: Mike Harmon)
Emergency stabilization was completed January 23rd at Bethany Curve. The City placed 200 tons of rock to stop further damage. It was a one-day repair ahead of a high tide and strong, long-period swell that once again overflowed West Cliff Drive.
If you haven't read the press release, here it is:
https://www.cityofsantacruz.com/Home/Components/News/News/9964/814
Santa Cruz Local also just published a piece about West Cliff:
West Cliff Drive traffic meeting on tap - Santa Cruz Local
A recent article which mentioned our #savewestcliff movement:
https://sfstandard.com/weather/future-of-iconic-coastal-road-in-doubt-following-january-storms/
CITY ENGAGEMENT
Tuesday January 24th, Al, Hilary, Nik, and Bob had a Zoom meeting with City Management to align on goals and strategy.
Our call focused on the following topics:
• How do we help the City?
• A #savewestcliff coalition update
• Emergency repair window, and how do we engage here?
• Long-term vision & strategy, and the LA River Master Plan that inspired us
Fig 3: LA River Master Plan Framework
The foundation for everything is community needs and participation. And we asked how do we partner with the City, County, State, Federal Government, nonprofits, etc., to bring this long-term master plan for West Cliff (vision) together?
The following are some top-line responses from the City:
- We genuinely appreciate engagement with the community around our #1 attraction, West Cliff.
- We must go beyond emergency repairs and look to long-term solutions.
- It will be a significant capital expenditure, and we recognize that whatever we decide will not be all things to all people.
- There is a lack of both internal and external consensus about what people want with West Cliff; however, we want to encourage participation and community dialogue.
Here is a helpful link discussing Repairs and Temporary Traffic Controls:
HUBSPOT TRANSITION & HELP NEEDED
We completed our transition to Hubspot and its now our platform for website, email, engagement. It was a big a project and we thank Carrie Drew and Lucas Ramadan who did a lot of the heavy lifting.
Our website will continue be updated regularly. We will be adding blogs and more images. Email us any pics you think would be helpful to info@savewestcliff.com
You will also be seeing emails requesting you to update/confirm your details and surveys asking questions about West Cliff and what it means to you.
If there are any data analysts/scientists in our group, we would love some help on analytics from all our submissions. Welcome any volunteers here.
We are also looking for help from drone pilots and cartography / map builders.
FINAL THOUGHTS
We have already received several questions, like one-way, two-way, three-way? Riprap, sea wall, or sand?
While the temptation is to jump into solutions, we must first start with the questions:
"What is this place we call West Cliff?"
"What is it used for?"
"Who uses it?"
"How often?"
"What does it mean to us personally and as a community?"
Answering these questions, will be the foundation we use to start thinking about strategies for transportation (auto, bike, skateboard, pedestrian, etc.), access, parks, surf ecosystem, arts and culture, community facilities, and other vital topics.
This visioning/master plan process is what we need most. It’s what has been missing and it's what we are advocating for right now. We need experts who have created world-class master plans leading this process (cross community, agencies and stakeholders) and we need real funding to get it completed ASAP.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please let us know via email, text, or phone calls.
We appreciate all your energy and passion for West Cliff, and we share your excitement!
Thank you,
Al, Hilary, Nik, and Bob
#savewestcliff