UPDATED: Pacific Grove takes stock of its broken seawall, and the rocky path ahead for a fix.

When pounding storm waves and heavy rain took a big chunk out of a seawall along Ocean View Boulevard on Jan. 21, more than crumbling rock was uncovered in Pacific Grove. It also highlighted a growing fissure between city officials – who are seeking a California Coastal Commission permit for seawall repairs – and opponents, who call the city’s plan short-sighted.

Coastal Commission staff recommended approval of the city’s permit to fix the wall west of Lovers Point, with a five-year time limit and a condition that the city develop a shoreline management plan to address sea level rise. (The commission was scheduled to vote on July 12, after the Weekly’s deadline.)

P.G. resident Tony Ciani, a retired architect and builder who oversaw construction of seawalls in La Jolla, calls the plan to fix the wall “a Band-Aid” on a larger problem. Parts of the wall were built over 100 years ago. The chunk that fell was part of a dump that was walled off in 1906. “Is this the way we should be spending our money?” Ciani asks.

Ciani, as well as organizations like the Monterey Bay chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, say it’s time to let the seawall go and instead move the city’s coastal trail inland. It’s a strategy known as a managed retreat in the face of climate change and sea level rise.

Pacific Grove officials, however, favor armoring the existing coastline through repairing and reinforcing the old wall. On March 1, City Council said it wanted to monitor sea level rise over the next couple of decades and protect the existing trail and infrastructure.

UPDATE: The Coastal Commission voted 6-4 in favor of granting the permit, however, commissioners also unanimously voted to reduce the city's deadline to three years, with a condition of providing a comprehensive shoreline management plan within that period.

Three residents—Ciani, his wife Lisa, and Luke Coletti—urged the commission to deny the permit, but they also suggested the three year limitation. They pointed out that the city failed to produce a comprehensive management plan as was required under a previous permit issued in 2007.

Commissioner Donne Brownsy said she was stuck on that point.

"(The city) didn't do it 10 years ago, why would we believe that they would do it today?" she asked.

Commissioners asked Mayor Bill Kampe if the city would agree to the three year limit.

"Yes, we would be pleased to work vigorously against the three-year timeline," he said.

Earlier in the meeting Kampe told the commission he believed the city would have its local coastal plan to the commission by this fall, and that they could produce a shoreline management plan in 18-24 months.

Editor's Note: The post was updated after the commission met on July 12.