MARINA – There is a move afoot by the city of Marina to improve access to the Fort Ord Dunes State Park using a grant from the California State Coastal Conservancy to fund the first part of the effort.
A resolution was unanimously passed by City Council on Tuesday approving support of using grant funding from the State Coastal Conservancy for access improvements at the Fort Ord Dunes State Park.
Fort Ord Dunes State Park opened to the public in 2009 providing nearly 1,000 acres dedicated to public land and 4 miles of ocean beach with views of the Monterey Bay. Its dunes and beaches are home to many endangered species.
Talks between the city and the Coastal Conservancy started more than a year ago, according to Marina City Manager Layne Long.
The Coastal Conservancy is a state agency established in 1976 to protect and improve natural lands and waterways, help people access and enjoy the outdoors, and sustain local economies along the length of California’s coast and around San Francisco Bay, says the agency’s website.
The city manager had been approached by the state agency in 2023 as a possible grant recipient to help improve its beach access. City staff met with Coastal Conservancy officials in October and toured the four primary beach access points in Marina. None of the sites provide those with mobility issues or challenges accessing the beach, ADA-accessible pathways. In the end, Fort Ord Dunes State Park was identified by the Conservancy as a site that could potentially qualify for the grants.
Long said an important facet to the city’s newfound partnership with the Conservancy is that State Parks has indicated to the Coastal Conservancy that it would support the project to improve access at Fort Ord Dunes State Park, but State Parks has concerns about its own limited budget and ability to maintain its properties, and does not want to increase its maintenance costs.
The State Coastal Conservancy will fund most stages of a project including pre-project feasibility studies, property acquisition, project planning including community involvement, design, environmental review, permitting, construction, and project-related monitoring, according to its website, but it does not fund operation and maintenance activities.
Long said the agency has $800,000 in grant money available and the Conservancy board has the Marina funding on its June agenda. He said the Conservancy needs a resolution from the Marina City Council supporting the grant funding before it can proceed with the application.
The city council approved an agreement in the amount of $33,647.50 with EMC Planning Group, Inc., at its Dec. 19 meeting that authorized EMC to prepare a grant application to the State Coastal Conservancy for funding coastal access trail improvements at the Fort Ord Dunes State Park. EMC submitted the application last month.
The grant application would be for preparation of planning, design, permitting, and California Environmental Quality Act documentation for coastal access improvements at the Fort Ord Dunes State Park parking lot at the 8th Street entrance adjacent to the Monterey Bay Coastal Recreation Trail.
The goal of the grant is to begin the process to improve one access point to the beach in the city so that all residents and visitors regardless of age, physical ability, or mobility challenges will be able to access the beach, according to city documents.
This grant from the State Coastal Conservancy will fund 100% of the costs to develop and prepare the site plans for the beach access improvements as well as cover all the permitting costs, according to city documents.
The city will be applying for a second Coastal Conservancy grant to fund 100% of the improvements. The city will be required to fund the maintenance costs of the new improvements. These costs will be determined at a later date once the plans are developed.
But the city’s staff report says the long-term management and maintenance of the existing trails and facilities would be maintained jointly by the City Public Works and the California Department of State Parks staff, something State Parks has already indicated it is disinclined to do.
Council member Brian McCarthy said he is “frankly a little disappointed that (State Parks) is asking us to maintain bathrooms that are on their property. I find that highly unusual, but if that’s what it takes to get us to the point of receiving some of this grant money, then I understand that.”
As part of the planning project funded by this grant, the city will develop a long-term management and maintenance plan as part of the permit.
“We need to get further in the process,” said Long. “Get the design, get a better understanding of what those maintenance costs will be.”
Long said he agreed with McCarthy who said he has been a proponent of improving the city’s relationship with State Parks.
“This is a good process where we’re meeting with State Parks, they’re actively involved, and we’re improving those relationships,” said Long. “Our goal is to see what things they are comfortable with in their maintenance budget, and at the same time we don’t want to stop making improvements of an access point to the coast if we don’t do anything in the next 10 years.”
The application completed by EMC identified several key areas where funding would be allocated including about 1,500 linear feet of coastal trail and emergency vehicle access improvements, installation of wayfinding coastal access, educational and directional signs, one restroom with two vault toilets, installation of a more visually appealing fence to and around the viewing platform, dumpster enclosure, about 0.4 acres of dune restoration if or where required as mitigation for access improvements and replace or relocate current boardwalk and viewing platform with bench and signage.
