Project required several different permits, but most important were California Coastal Commission, Coastal Development Permit (CDP), and permits from the USA Corps of Engineers and the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. The project was successful in securing Coastal Development Permit and permit from the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board which can serve as permit templates for similar ‘living shoreline’ projects, including project monitoring requirements.

The project is an integrated coastal restoration, i.e., living shoreline restoration project, and a managed retreat project involving removing and relocating public access, recreation, parking and circulation improvements out of the hazard zone.

The project is an integrated coastal restoration, i.e., living shoreline restoration project, and a managed retreat project. Even with the removal of public improvements from the hazard zone, shoreline protection is needed and the choice was made to substitute ‘soft protection,’ i.e., nature-based habitat restoration or hard rip-rap protection.

The project combined both ‘living shoreline’ coastal habitat restoration with engineered cobble installation in an integrated design, creating soft nature-based adaptation project.

A Surfers Point Working Group was established to enable community consultation regarding the project’s goals and design as well as stakeholders’ involvement throughout the entire process. The public attending these consultations was state services, regional and local authorities, representatives of the civil society, representatives of the Local City Government and the State Government, public landowners, community stakeholders and community non-profit representatives.