Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley on Friday said it would be “irresponsible” to rebuild the 150 feet at the end of the city’s wharf that fell into the ocean Monday without having serious discussions first about whether the structure can withstand the stronger storms and turbulent waves climate change is expected to bring in the coming years.
“Nobody has made a decision yet,” Keeley said during a press conference at Cowell’s Beach with the Santa Cruz Wharf behind him. The wharf has been closed off to the public since Monday’s high surf. “To say we’re simply going to put it back, is much more risky and frankly irresponsible than having a very serious conversation,” he said.
The 110-year-old, 2,745-foot wharf claims to be the longest fully wooden wharf in the western hemisphere. It’s unclear if it still maintains that title after the end section dropped into the ocean.
That portion had already been closed off to the public for nearly a year, after it was damaged in back-to-back storms in recent years. The city had been in the midst of a $4 million repair project to that section on the day the high swells took down the end of the pier, causing three construction workers — a city employee and two contractors — to fall into the ocean, though they were rescued and taken to safety.
For some, the idea of changes to the pier is an affront to one of the city’s most prized cultural landmarks. It’s also an economic driver to the city, drawing in two million visitors each year, city officials say. The wharf’s 20 restaurants and retailers employ around 400 people.
But Santa Cruz may have to weigh whether maintaining the pier to its current standard is worth the cost.
“You have a mile-long commercial roadway over open ocean,” Keeley said. Noting the risks climate change poses to the structure, he asked, “Is that the right thing to keep doing, and if so, in what way?”
The city of Santa Cruz has had multiple moments to ask itself that question. As early as this January, though, the city was pushing forward on a long-delayed master plan that envisions adding pedestrian walkways, additional retail space and fortifications around the end of the pier. Originally proposed in 2016, the plan has been held up by litigation from neighbors concerned that it will impact the historic aesthetic of the wharf.
Gary Griggs, a professor at U.C. Santa Cruz and expert on coastal geology, said that it’s only a matter of time before wharfs like Santa Cruz’s succumb to the battering of the Pacific Ocean. The existing wharf is actually the sixth wharf that has been constructed off the city’s coast.
“We can put in more pilings and put in more deckings… but is that really worth it?” Griggs said. “How much do they get back economically from the revenue of those business on the wharf, from what might last a year or two or five?”
During the conference, City Manager Matt Huffaker reaffirmed the city’s commitment to reopening the wharf and businesses there as soon as possible — but said it could be weeks before that can happen.
To ensure businesses can operate on the wharf safely, the city must first remove some of the heavy equipment from their contractors that fell into the ocean — including a crane and a skid-steer — which “potentially jeopardizes the rest of the wharf.” The city is already in talks with a team of engineers to conduct a structural assessment on the rest of the wharf to determine if it can safely be reopened.
In the meantime, Huffaker said, the city is considering making direct payments to employees along the wharf who are unable to work while it is closed.
“We have been in discussion with businesses about how to soften the blow,” he said.
