The Santa Barbara County Supervisors decided this week to petition the California Coastal Commission to retain 950 feet of emergency boulders along Goleta Beach.
In March, after weeks of heavy surf pounded the shore and chewed up grassland, county staff quickly installed emergency rock revetment to shore up the beach park. It wasn’t cheap. The county supervisors — somewhat reluctantly — approved what turned out to be a nearly $1 million job.
Now there are just small patches of green grass, and the sandy beach is nearly nonexistent. “You’d have to be a pretty skinny kid to play on the beach,” joked County Supervisor Steve Lavagnino.