The Impossibility of North Beach

What's to be done at North Beach? 

The conversation about North Beach has recently turned to creating a park in that location, fueled by the defeat of Measure A earlier this year. Before that, the conversation centered around creating , a small retail and public space area designed by . This was a six-year effort that included many public meetings, debate, negotiation, significant changes and reduction of the project, the purchase and restoration of North Beach historic property by the owners of LAB Holding--the Casino--public approval of the project (Measure W), and cancellation of the project (). 

San Clemente's current General Plan, created almost 20 years ago, calls for revitalizing North Beach as a mixed-use, high activity center of the city. According to the General Plan, this calls for retail shops, restaurants, entertainment, and other aspects that include greater coastal uses (such as a pier or beach boardwalk). 

In the early 1990's the city council passed a resolution calling for a park and beach parking. Ditto in 1970, including the acquisition of some land in the area by eminent domain. 

North Beach in the 1930s and '40s was more like the Playa del Norte vision, with retail that included a theater, restaurant, and dancing/entertainment (via the Miramar and Casino).

In the 1920s, Ole Hanson stated his desire for recreation and entertainment at North Beach. 

With all the back-and-forth about what should be done in North Beach, what do we have now?

If you stand on the corner of El Camino Real and Avenida Pico, you see a vacant lot, a car wash, a dilapidated building that's been empty for decades, and a 7 Eleven. Next to that is an underused parking lot. And there are often homeless people in the area. 

Some who objected to the Playa del Norte project characterized it as a “mini-mall”. You might think that's fair or unfair. What's true is that a significant part of North Beach is a mini-mall right now, and a lousy one at that. Whatever people do want from North Beach, no one wants that. 

With the possible exception of the late 1930's and 1940's, we've failed to fulfill the possibilities for North Beach. Why is that? And what can we do to change this pattern that has netted so little? 

Measure A failed to clarify the North Beach issue. Only 43% of registered voters turned out for the special election, so it's hard to see it as a quorum. Almost 57% of registered voters turned out for the Measure W's approval of Playa del Norte a couple of years before that, and almost as many people voted in favor of Measure W (15,726) as voted in total on Measure A (17,794). Half-again as may people voted for Measure W than voted against Measure A. 

The point here is that after two elections and almost a century of discussion and development, it's still hard to suss out the desire of the city as a whole. Did people change their minds? Were they not aware of the election? Did people on one side or the other vote in one election and not the other? It's impossible to tell, and simple conclusions can't be distilled from this kind of history.

One perspective that seems to have emerged is that some Clementinos don't want to risk change. People usually move to San Clemente because they like it here, not because of an easy commute. And even if they do move here for the commute they quickly come to love the city for what it is. So for some people, the risk of building anything will almost always be too great for the potential reward. We already like it, so why risk changing it? 

This is a fair perspective. Everyone needs to make a risk/reward assessment for civic improvements, and if it's not worth it to you, then so be it. 

There's another perspective that believes that all of San Clemente should be beautiful, interesting, unique. As nice as it is to live here, we should take the areas that need the most work and create something special in each one.

This, too, is fair. Doing “just enough” or tolerating ugly and undesirable conditions isn't sufficient for a city as beautiful as ours. 

So it seems like this is where the lines are drawn at the moment: Keep it great! Make it better! One perspective gains momentum, then another does.

Nothing happens at North Beach except decay. Everyone loses, particularly the people who live in the North Beach area. It seems like an impossible situation.

But I believe there is great opportunity here.

One of the great features of San Clemente was born from similar differences in perspective. The Beach Trail started as a concrete boardwalk a la Venice Beach, vigorously opposed by some and ultimately defeated as something not in the spirit of San Clemente. But one side was big enough to admit that some way of navigating along the coast was more desirable than brushing up against moving trains, and the other side acknowledged that some ideas that might be right for other communities aren't right for San Clemente.

So a natural trail was envisioned and realized. It immediately became far more popular than expected. It's just a few years old and one of the most prized aspects of our community. I don't know if the Miramar will still be standing in 50 years. But I'd bet real money that all the future generations of our community will fight to preserve the Beach Trail. 

We love our history in San Clemente. But it's even better to create something so beautiful and useful that it makes history. That's our opportunity at North Beach, if we're big enough and brave enough to embrace it. We can build something special, a natural area, attraction, or anything, that will be precious to our city for generations. 

Our vision should be bigger than creating a park, building retail, or preserving beach parking. Should we do those things in North Beach? Sure, if it's right. But our vision should not end there. Our vision should be to make new history, to give our future city (and ourselves) something as special as past generations have given to us.

Our long failure at North Beach and the current polarization around what should be done there makes it seem impossible to get anything done. But only our lack of an expansive vision will keep it that way. Instead of challenging each other on parks, retail, and parking, we could be challenging ourselves on the beauty, scope, and creativity of what North Beach can be.