CARLSBAD — The Carlsbad Planning Commission narrowly approved plans to replace deteriorating staircases at several beach access points during its July 19 meeting.
The Carlsbad Beach Access Repairs Project aims to replace five beach access stairways along a stretch of Carlsbad Boulevard due to “significant deterioration, including exposed and rusted steel reinforcements, cracked and broken away concrete, and rusting of the stairways,” city staff said.
Under the proposal, four of the elevated staircases — near the intersections of Carlsbad Boulevard and Sycamore Avenue, Carlsbad Boulevard and Maple Avenue, Carlsbad Boulevard and Cherry Avenue, and Carlsbad Boulevard and Hemlock Avenue — will be replaced entirely, including railing, concrete platforms and stairs.
The other on-grade stairway at Tamarack Avenue will also receive a complete overhaul, including new stair curbs, railing and landings.
The project also includes widening the sidewalk and replacing streetlight poles along Carlsbad Boulevard from Pine to Tamaracks avenues.
The City Council will consider the item later this year.
The commission was split 4-3 on the project, with commissioners Alicia Lafferty, William Kamenjarin and Kevin Sabellico voting against it, citing concerns over removing a guardrail to widen the sidewalk.
Lafferty also said the lack of “equitable” beach access was her most significant issue with the plan.
Supporters of the project said the repairs are necessary and will only enhance public access.
“This is going to increase and promote access,” said Commissioner Joseph Stine. “These stairs are badly corroded. They don’t maintain themselves.”
All four stairways were installed in the 1980s and later identified in 2016 as needing replacement, per the staff report.
According to Izzak Mireles, an associate planner with the city, the upper sidewalk is narrow and constrained by surface-mounted railings. To widen the walkway by more than 2 feet, the city has proposed to remove railings and guardrails and extend the sidewalk westward on a cantilever overhanging the bluff from Pine Avenue to Maple Avenue.
Lauren Ferrell, an associate engineer of the city’s public works department, said this project aims to maintain safe access for the public to the beach.
“The project consists of two major elements — beach access stairway improvements and upper sidewalk improvements,” Mireles said. “In some instances, sections of the stairway has been closed off for emergency repairs.”
Lafferty, Kamenjarin and Sabellico took issue with other components of the project, particularly the lack of wheelchair-accessible ramps, equitable access points and signage.
A reason for the lack of wheelchair ramps is due to the beach access points exceeding 8.8% grade, which is too steep for an ADA-compliant ramp, city staff said. Additionally, Ferrell noted access ramps are part of a separate Capital Improvement Program project.
But Lafferty said these beach access points do not align with equitable access.
“There is no marker for access,” Lafferty said. “You sort of have to stumble on them, and we want to make them equitably accessible. The project is incomplete. We need to meet federal standards that supersede city and state requirements.”
Ron Kemp, senior assistant city attorney, said the council approved a feasibility study for wheelchair ramps in 2018, completed in 2020.
However, the project has been inactive since then despite the council approving funds for a preliminary engineering analysis in the fiscal year 2024-25 budget. But for $2.8 million per ramp, Kemp said the council must figure out an additional funding source for the wheelchair ramps.
Due to the city’s temporary state of emergency regarding bike and vehicle safety, Sabellico said he could not support the project since it involved removing guardrails.
Mark Strong, the city’s assistant community development director, explained that due to the lower speed limit on Carlsbad Boulevard along with bike and buffer lanes, the city met requirements for the project, following the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials standard.
Commissioners Dave Hubinger and Joseph Stine said it’s an essential maintenance project and not aligned with other issues, especially the ADA argument, since it’s a separate project.
“I think this is a basic maintenance project,” Hubinger said. “The function of city government is to maintain the sidewalks, streets and some good points have been made for guardrails, but those have been addressed.”
