Pillar Point Harbor
San Mateo County Harbor District website
Harbor overview MCC slide presentation
Surfers' Beach Pilot Restoration Project
Construction of the Pillar Point Harbor breakwater in 1960 dramatically increased the rate of erosion south of the jetty, taking away the beach and threatening the highway.
See Surfers' Beach page
Princeton Shoreline Management Plan
See Princeton Shoreline page
8/30/19 County memo & attachments & 2/4/20 CCC reply
5/29/13 Pillar Point Harbor Shoreline Erosion MCC presentation
West Trail Living Shoreline Project
Popular recreation area and essential emergency access to the west breakwater, the trail has been threatened by erosion since 2011. Construction of the living shoreline was completed in April 2022, but dune and biofiltration basin planting had to be postponed until rainy season in October. Harbor District project page
2021: Construction bid approved in Sept: staff report - presentation. CDP approved in Feb by CCC: staff report - exhibits
2020: Nov Update presentation - staff report
2019: At CCC request, erosion protection project scope is redirected to living shoreline treatment rather than hard armoring. April proposal — Nov update.
-- Case Studies of Natural Shoreline Infrastructure in Coastal California
-- Toward Natural Shoreline Infrastructure to Manage Coastal Change in California
Earlier Posts:
9/8/2016 West Trail Erosion Protection Preferred Alternative
10/11/2014 Harbor West Trail, 3-Year Emergency
5/8/2013 Erosion Threatens Harbor’s West Trail
Pillar Point RV Park
…was formally developed in 1999 without Coastal Development Permit, under long-term lease, on a Harbor District parcel that had been used for many decades as public beach parking with restroom facilities. The public restroom, a key amenity in this popular beach area, was closed. Public coastal views and critically needed west-of-highway beach parking were lost.
MCC documented the issues in 2015: letter & images.
An after-the-fact CDP for the RV Park was approved 7/9/19 by the HMB Planning Commission to include a new public restroom, outdoor showers, reduced number of RV spaces to 40, day-use parking and Coastal Trail reconfiguration, and landscape improvements to restore public ocean views and to provide more appropriately-sized screening for the RV’s from the highway and the Coastal Trail.
Final Findings & Conditions of Approval
Pillar Point Surfers’ Beach Restroom & Greenspace Project: construction expected in 2023.
Perched Beach
Overuse of inner harbor Perched Beach for dredge disposal turned most of the former beach into an upland area. This “pre-development dredge disposal” was done without Coastal Commission permission in 1998 and 2006. One more dredge event was authorized in 2013, but public comment urged that future harbor dredge material be used to restore and protect eroded shoreline areas. Read more.
9/10/13 MCC letter re District dredging strategy
6/12/13 MCC slide presentation & letter
Chronic harbor fecal pollution
A study by San Mateo County Resource Conservation District (RCD) determined that the source of the bacteria is upland urban runoff via creeks and storm drains, not from boats - 2014 Final Report & presentation. Followup studies have looked at the upland areas that drain to Capistrano Beach - 2017 presentation.
Beach Water Quality Advisories (sign up for email updates)
Harbor History & Documents
MCC overview slide presentation updated 2022
Pillar Point Harbor history 1997 article by Barbara Vanderwerf
1933 Harbor District formed by Board of Supervisors Resolution.
1933-1948 Harbor District inactive
1943 aerial photo harbor area, pre-breakwater
1953 Grant Deed El Granada parcels
1960 Grant Deed State Tidelands (map on last page)
Pillar Point Harbor land parcel table
1959-61 U.S. Army Corps construction of outer breakwater
1960 Master Plan: only Phase 1 built (pier, bulkhead, fill, office, concession bldg) due to storm waves within harbor.
1966, 1970, 1977, 1991 attempts to dissolve Harbor District (1,2,3)
1976 Coastal Permit 133-76: inner harbor
1978 Nov: 133-76-A1: additional parking
1983 District declines gift of Surfers' Beach land
1984 Feb: 133-76 A2: allow dredging/Perched Beach
1984 Oct: 133-76 A3: allow larger volume of dredging
1985 Feb: request to reconsider 133-76 A3: denied
1989 CCC comments on East Harbor Master Plan draft EIR
1989 EIR Summary of Mitigation -- East Harbor Master Plan
1990 Scenic Preservation Agreement west of Denniston Creek
1991 Pillar Point Harbor Master Plan — site plans: inner harbor, west shoreline, highway area
1996 Army Corps constructed concrete wall at west breakwater
2006 LAFCo Municipal Service Review
2012 Implementation status report of 1991 PPH Master Plan.
2014 Infrastructure & Facilities Assessment
2014 Grand Jury Report: "What is the price of dysfunction? The San Mateo County Harbor District." LAFCo response
MCC letter re District Priorities 7/9/14
2015 LAFCo Municipal Service Review
2016 Grand Jury Report: "The Price of Dysfunction is Rising"
2018 Harbor Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Assessment