The public may soon have access to two popular La Jolla locations following years of confusion over high tides, private property lines and contested signage.Two proposals to protect public access to the Coast Walk Trail and southern La Jolla Shores were reviewed by the La Jolla Community Planning Association, which unanimously approved both plans during an August 6 meeting.
La Jolla Shores – Beach Access at the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club
When the tide is at its highest, the waves crash against the Marine Room restaurant’s west wall, cutting off beachgoers’ access to the southern sands of La Jolla Shores. The beach area above the average high tide is privately owned, leading some beachgoers to cross private property to reach the beach.The beach is bordered by the La Jolla Beach & Tennis Club, leaving no other public route to the southern shore. The Club’s new proposal to the California Coastal Commission would ensure public access to the southern beach when high tides block the shoreline route.
Whenever the tide reaches the Marine Room’s west wall, the Club would allow the public to pass through its property. A narrow concrete passageway along the Marine Room’s southern side will be opened, providing beach access from Spindrift Drive. The shared-use walkway was included in the La Jolla Community Plan August 2014 update.The club would also grant access to its privately owned beach, a 10-foot sand buffer between the club and the average high tide.The plan is in line with the Coastal Act, a state law protecting the public’s right to access and enjoy all 1,100 miles of California’s coastline. The 1976 law has carved out more than 2,500 public accessways as a result.Signs explaining when the high tide cutoff and where people may walk would be put up on Spindrift Drive and Paseo Dorado, directing aimless beachgoers towards the access walkway.The proposal was sent to the Coastal Commission in May and is now pending approval. If approved, the Club would be required to put up the signs and give the public access at high tide.
The Coast Walk Trail
Concerns about public access to the Coast Walk Trail grew after private property signs were put up along the historic walking route in 2025.The signs claimed people’s “right to pass by permission and subject to the control of owners.” They may look official, but residents say the City of San Diego did not approve these signs.
Kristen Churchill, a Coast Walk resident, raised the issue in a La Jolla Traffic and Transportation Board meeting this March; residents suspect the owner of six nearby parcels is responsible.Teall and Carolyn Edds are associated with three limited liability companies — Coast Walk Cottage LLC, Heritage Bridge LLC and Coast Walk LLC — all of which filed a lawsuit against the city last year. Carolyn Edds is listed as the secretary for Friends of Coast Walk Trail, a local nonprofit organization that has worked to restore and preserve the public space since 2010.The companies are challenging the city’s placement of a public right-of-way on their private property, which stretches across Coast Walk and down the cliff to the average high tide line.Board members said a ruling that the land is private could limit the city’s ability to maintain or widen Coast Walk Road, reroute the trail and respond to cliff failures.The companies are challenging the city’s assertion of a public right-of-way that crosses their private property, and have asked a Superior Court judge to determine where public land meets private. Historical maps could be part of the court’s review; the La Jolla Community Plan’s physical access map records much of the cliffs as being owned by the city.During a May 19 board meeting, Churchill explained that the property owners are not disputing the public right-of-way on the existing asphalt path, but are contesting the total width of the easement that established the public’s access.After review, the Traffic and Transportation Board recommended the signs be removed and voted to support permanent public access, but requested a legal briefing on the issue before taking action.The Planning Group unanimously supported the board’s recommendation. The board also approved the creation of a vehicle turnaround at the dead end of Coast Walk Road.While the La Jolla Shores proposal awaits Coastal Commission approval, the Coast Walk dispute will be decided in court. Both instances underscore the challenge of California’s coastline: balancing private property rights with the public’s right to reach the shore at all times.
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