Restore San Clemente's Beaches - Say No To Capistrano Shores!

Surfrider Foundation South Orange County Chapter oppposes the pending coastal development permit (CDP) at Capistrano Shores Mobile Home Park (Capistrano Shores) in San Clemente. The proposed 2,447 sq. ft. mobile home at Capistrano Shore is inconsistent with Coastal Act sections 30253 and 30235. The project consists of new development that would rely on shoreline armoring without mitigating the effects on sand supply, lateral public access and recreational opportunities. As new homes are constructed and reconstructed on El Camino Real at Capistrano Shores, they will perpetuate reliance on the existing, pre-Coastal Act seawall – a direct conflict with section 30253 of the Coastal Act.

The staff report also notes that the owner of Capistrano Shores submitted a coastal development permit for seawall repairs. The application has remained unfiled since 2012. However, with new homeowners and new homes, it’s only a matter of time before extensive repairs and enhancements are sought – perpetuating this seawall for decades to come and ensuring a death sentence to this San Clemente beach as sea levels rise.

Additionally, Surfrider recently filed an amicus brief to join the Coastal Commission in court case Linovitz Capo Shores, Llc, V. California Coastal Commission. On July 14, 2016, the Commission heard more than a dozen permit applicants for after-the-fact approval of second-story construction on the mobilehomes at Capistrano Shores Mobile Home Park. These homes remain unpermitted. With the fate of these homes looming, the Coastal Commission must reevaluate whether redevelopment at Capistrano Shores is warranted at all.  

San Clemente’s visitors and residents not fortunate enough to live directly on the beach deserve to have the beach in San Clemente preserved and restored as much as possible. Homes, mobile or not, should not have been placed directly on the beach in San Clemente. It’s time to phase out this pattern of development that has eroded much of California’s beaches over the past decades and threatens to completely drown them as sea levels rise. This would be the third new development approved since 2019 that would rely on the existing shoreline at Capistrano Shores. 

If you would like to help the chapter in opposing this project coming before the Coastal Commission on May 12th please contact derkeneff@southoc.surfrider.org.