Del Mar City Council Meeting Agenda
Del Mar Town Hall
1050 Camino del Mar, Del Mar, California
October 6, 2026 City Council Meeting
INFORMATION RECEIVED
AFTER THE COUNCIL AGENDA
WAS DISTRIBUTED
(“Red Dots”)
1 Robert Silva
From: Janet Wilson <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 6, 2026 10:35 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Cc: Terry Gaasterland; John Spelich; Tracy Martinez; Dan Quirk; Janet Wilson Subject: Item 8: Request for 30 mph Along Shores Park Camino Del Mar Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Dear Councilmembers,
I am a member of TPAC, but these comments reflect my personal views.
Heading south on Camino del Mar from the Plaza, the speed limit is 25 mph. At the light at 9th Street, it jumps to 35 mph. This section runs along Shores Park.
Between 9th Street and La Amatista, it makes sense to lower the speed limit from 35 to 30 mph.
As the Shores Park project moves forward, please consider adding a crosswalk at La Amatista to provide safer access to the park.
Below, the picture on the left shows proposed speed limits in this section of Camino Del Mar. The picture on the right shows my suggested changes in blue.
Thank you,
Janet Wilson
October 6, 2026 Item 8
1 Robert Silva
From: Joe Sullivan <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 2, 2026 9:00 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Red Dot for October 6 meeting
Attachments: Red Dot for October 6 City Council Meeting.docx Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Sarah’s
Please distribute red dot attached and embedded below.
Thanks,
Joe Sullivan
Red Dot for October 6 City Council Meeting
TO: Del Mar City Council
FROM: Joe & Alice Sullivan
SUBJECT: Item 10: Preparing for El Niño Gigante
We applaud City staff and Council for recognizing the potential flooding risks associated with this year’s El Niño and for taking steps to prepare.
We are disappointed that staff has dismissed the possibility of extending the temporary sand berms along the entire length of the beach, rather than limiting them to the street ends. We believe the reasons given for rejecting this approach warrant further consideration:
1. City resources.
Staff has indicated that the City does not have the resources to extend the berms along the entire beach. Yet the City has a General Fund contingency reserve exceeding $4 million. This is often referred to as a “rainy day” fund. Given the potential threat posed by a significant El Niño event, we believe this is precisely the type of circumstance for which emergency reserves may be appropriate.
2. Public access.
Staff has suggested a berm extending the length of the beach would limit public access. However, the berms and barriers now being constructed are being located at the street-end public access points. A temporary berm placed between those access points would not impair public access.
The City is removing sand from in front of homes, putting them in further peril while it moves that sand to street ends. This sand should remain available to protect any property, city or private and a continuous berm would accomplish that.
October 6, 2026 Item 10
2 3. Public purpose.
We question the City Attorney’s guidance that a berm extending the entire length of the beach could be viewed as primarily benefiting private property rather than serving a public purpose. We question whether that conclusion fully considers the City’s responsibility to protect public safety, health, and welfare in the face of a potentially significant flooding event.
Protecting the first row of beachfront homes helps protect the homes, streets, and infrastructure on Ocean Front (the alley behind oceanfront homes), Coast Blvd, side streets and potentially the homes east of Coast Blvd.
We ask that you recognize the pending emergency and authorize :
1. Construction of a continuous sand berm along the ocean front;
2. Funding to bring in additional sand as needed to provide this continuing berm through the winter storm season.
We also ask you to vote in favor of waiving the fees for an emergency encroachment permit in the event that property owners need to temporarily access public property to install protective measures, such as sandbags or berms. This should apply not only to beachfront properties, but also to properties farther east that are lower than the beachfront and may need to place sandbags or other temporary protective measures within the public right-of-way to protect their homes.
Thank you for your consideration and for your continued efforts to prepare Del Mar for the coming El Niño season.
Respectfully submitted,
October 6, 2026 Item 10
1 Robert Silva
From: Leslie Burcham <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 2, 2026 12:26 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Sand to Protect our home.
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Completed
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Please let homeowners bring in sand to protect their homes this winter, and please build a continuous temporary berm along the beach instead of berms only at the street ends.
Staff has said no to bringing sand in for our homes. A berm only at the street ends leaves the houses between those ends exposed. Moving sand away from the homes and over to the street ends makes that worse. A temporary berm between the public access points would not block those access points.
Please also waive the fee for an emergency encroachment permit, which staff has already recommended. Owners may need to place sandbags or a short berm in the public right-of-way. That should cover beachfront homes and homes farther east that sit lower and may need the same protection.
Thank you for your consideration.
Leslie Burcham
Resident
October 6, 2026 Item 10
1 Robert Silva
From: Rick Kuhle <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, October 2, 2026 4:21 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Item 10 city council meeting
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Thanks to the City Council to recognize the peril the beach colony is in with the extreme El Niño approaching.
I am disappointed with what the staff has brought forward so far which is far to little and hopefully not too late.
Berming in front of the homes will benefit not only these homes but the 400 homes and public streets that sit 4-5 feet below. Makes absolutely no sense for the berms only going at street ends to protect public streets, while not Berming the houses, especially those with no or little sea wall protection, would cause the public streets to be flooded as well as the 400 homes behind.
Protecting the front row of homes helps protect the homes, public streets and infrastructure as well as the 400 homes that sit behind.
We respectfully request that you immediately authorize; Construction of a continuous berm through the El Niño season in front of the oceanfront homes Give emergency permits immediately to allow home owners to place rip-rap in front of their homes, at their cost, and to remove by May 15th.
Thank you for your consideration. You are Del Mar’s leaders- Please do so! Sent from my iPhone
October 6, 2026 Item 10
1 Robert Silva
From: Heather Lindsey <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, October 3, 2026 1:53 PM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Item 10: City Council 10/6 : El Niño Prep
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
I am writing to ask two things.
1) Please reconsider the placement of a continuous sand berm. The berm protects not only the 600+ residences in North Beach but also the public infrastructure and public infrastructure and public access in the broader low-lying neighborhood.
2) Please waive the fees for an emergency encroachment permit for beach colony residents if property owners need to temporarily access public property to install protective measures, such as sandbags or berms. I appreciate staff’s support of North Beach residents protecting their homes.
Regarding the sand berm, Del Mar's unique coastal geomorphology means North Beach slopes downward as it moves inland. The crest of the beach berm sits at about 13 feet above sea level, dropping to about 10 feet at Ocean Front, 7 feet at Camino Del Mar, and about 6 feet east of Camino Del Mar, forming a basin between the road and the railroad embankment. The beach colony can flood from at least two directions: the lagoon to the north and ocean waves to the west. The scenario is that water rushes through the 5-foot setbacks into Ocean Front, continues down to Camino Del Mar, and then a little further into the basin, where it either stays or drains north to the San Dieguito River. But if the lagoon is too full to offer relief or, even worse, if the river/lagoon is overflowing into the community, then that water has nowhere to go. Given that Del Mar does not know whether or when the lagoon will be dredged or whether enough sand will be dredged to ensure that the lagoon won’t flood, it makes sense to mitigate the water coming from the west by building the berm.
Now add that our highest tides are expected November 24–25 (the Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving), December 23–25 (Christmas) and January 21–23. On top of the highest tides, we have the 6-12+ inch increase in water level that is expected to last through this winter due to the Kelvin wave and the El Nino. Many families will be away for the holidays, and response October 6, 2026 Item 10
2 capabilities will be limited for those who remain (pump rentals, private contractors, city workers, emergency services, deliveries). NOAA also reports that the 2026-27 El Niño is expected to strengthen, with a greater than 90% chance of a very strong event during November through January. If the City cannot maintain a continuous protective line throughout the winter and ensure the berms before forecasted high-surf or major storm events, then I ask that it at least prioritize those holiday King Tide periods from November 15 to January 25, or at least during the holidays.
I see the public/private analysis laid out by the City Attorney differently. 1) There is a public purpose of the berm given Del Mar’s unique terrain and the unique winter we are facing. 2) I understand that there are general funds that may be available. 3) Del Mar has stated that flood management and public beach access as goals that must be addressed together. The berm can be constructed in a manner that does not limit public access and in a manner to meet staff’s goals; for instance, we could leave openings to the left and right of the current street-end berms to allow ample public ingress and egress or perhaps stagger/overlap them by the entrances.
I appreciate the City’s work to expedite emergency shoreline-protection permits for the Ocean Front owners, many of whom have owned their homes for decades (quick guess is that 20% have lived there for over 40 years and 50%+ have lived there over 20 years). Worth noting is that, emergency riprap can cost approximately $75,000 per lot, and that contractor availability to lay rip-rap this late is already highly limited due to demand.
This request is not an effort to shift ordinary property-protection responsibilities to the City. I am boarding vulnerable openings, upgrading boarding materials, surrounding the home with sandbags, purchasing additional flood-control equipment, changing travel plans so I can be present during the highest-risk tides, and increasing insurance coverage. Other residents are making similar preparations. The point is to match the response to the scale of the risk: individual measures protect individual homes; a coordinated berm can also reduce the pathway for floodwater into the lower-lying neighborhood and help protect public streets, drainage systems, utilities, access points, and other community assets.
Respectfully,
Heather Lindsey
October 6, 2026 Item 10
3 October 6, 2026 Item 10
1 Robert Silva
From: Grant Peto <[email protected]>
Sent: Monday, October 5, 2026 11:07 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: Item 10 City Council Meeting Red Dot
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
To the Honorable Mayor and Members of City Council:
Thank you to the Mayor, the City Council and staff for helping prepare for what is expected to be an unprecedented El Nino. I write because the measures currently being taken are grossly insufficient to protect the public, Del Mar's infrastructure, or the hundreds of homes in the Beach Colony.
Before the storm season has even begun, Southern California has already seen substantial damage in other beach communities that failed to prepare and thought traditional sandbags and plywood would be sufficient. For example, after Long Beach recently had overtopping, the community learned from their mistakes and installed a substantial sand berm and 3,000-pound sandbags along its beach. Del Mar must follow suit.
Removing sand from in front of the homes to place large berms only in front of the beachheads increases the chance of overtopping through the beachfront homes. That will, in-turn, flood the public infrastructure and properties throughout very large portions of the Beach Colony that sit lower than the beachfront properties.
Extending the berm and/or placing 3,000-pound sandbags (or similar long-term protection measures) in front of the entire beach, which is being done up and down the California coast, will protect the public, Del Mar’s infrastructure, and the hundreds of homes in the Beach Colony.
Extending the berm and protective measures will not impair beach access because the City is already placing berms at all public beach access points. A continuous berm will prevent erosion and ensure the beach remains usable during and after this storm season.
Thank you for your consideration and efforts.
Grant K. Peto
Law Office of Grant K. Peto, APC
840 Apollo St., Ste. 100
El Segundo, CA 90245
310-984-6825
www.petolaw.com
This e-mail message and any attachments are confidential and may be attorney-client privileged. Dissemination, distribution or copying of this message or attachments without proper authorization is strictly prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please notify the Law Office of Grant K. Peto, APC immediately by telephone or by e-mail, and permanently delete the original, and destroy all copies, of this message and all attachments.
October 6, 2026 Item 10
2 Circular 230 Disclosure: To assure compliance with Treasury Department rules governing tax practice, we hereby inform you that any advice contained herein (including in any attachment) (1) was not written or intended to be used, and cannot be used, by you or any taxpayer for the purpose of avoiding any penalties that may be imposed on you or any taxpayer and (2) may not be used or referred to by you or any other person in connection with promoting, marketing or recommending to another person any transaction or matter addressed herein.
October 6, 2026 Item 10
Red Dot for October 6, 2026 City Council Meeting
TO: Del Mar City Council
FROM: Steve Mack
SU Mayor and Councilmembers,
My name is Steve Mack. I own a beachfront home at 2932 Camino Del Mar. My property extends from the water to Camino del Mar, and a portion of its beachfront is subject to public access.
In January 2023, my property experienced extreme flooding. I saw ocean water move East across my property toward Camino Del Mar. With a very strong El Niño forecast for this winter, I am concerned Del Mar could face even more severe conditions.
The staff report says the City is building berms to protect public access, public property, and infrastructure, but does not plan to extend them along the beachfront because a longer berm would primarily benefit private homes. I ask the Council to take another look at that conclusion. Several beachfront properties extend all the way to Camino Del Mar. Water overtopping the beach can move across these properties and reach the street, potentially disrupting public travel and emergency access on Camino Del Mar. Protecting this stretch of beach therefore has a public purpose beyond protecting the homes themselves.
I recognize that a berm would need to be designed so it does not unnecessarily obstruct the public’s access to the water. Please ask staff to evaluate whether a seasonal berm could reduce the risk of flooding along this stretch while maintaining beach access. If a longer berm presents challenges involving access, cost, or sand supply, please ask staff to evaluate other ways to protect Camino Del Mar before ruling out protection along the beachfront.
I appreciate the City’s plan to help homeowners understand their options and navigate the permit process. I also support the proposed waiver of the City’s emergency encroachment permit fee.
I, like many of my neighbors, experienced flooding in 2023. Please help us prepare while there is still time.
Respectfully submitted,
Steve Mack
October 6, 2026 Item 10
1 Robert Silva
From: Michele Burke <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 6, 2026 11:45 AM
To: City Clerk Mail Box
Subject: 10/6 Council meeting Item 10 Red Dot
Follow Up Flag: Follow up
Flag Status: Flagged
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
6 October 2026
Dear Mayor and Members of City Council,
Given the current El Nino forecasts, and the emergency declarations already issued by the State and the City, I urge you to support two key points in preparation for what is predicted to be an unprecedented weather event.
First, construct and maintain a continuous sand berm the length of Del Mar beach. Over the years, berming only the beach access points has lead to overtopping seawalls, ocean water flooding the streets, debris in the streets, storm drains unable to handle the deluge, and massive clean up.
Secondly, expedite emergency permitting for oceanfront and adjacent property owners so that protective measures can be installed quickly if conditions require. The Governor’s proclamation directs the Coastal Commission to fast-track these permits. Del Mar needs to implement this process prior to the onset of major storms, not afterwords.
Thank you for your support and attention to this urgent matter.
Respectfully,
Michele Burke
October 6, 2026 Item 10
City of Del Mar
Council Liaison Report
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Dwight Worden, Councilmember
DATE: October 6, 2026
METRO Commission/Wastewater JPA Dwight Worden primary
The Metro Commission didn’t meet in August. We met Thursday, October 1, 2026. Routine contracts and related items were reviewed and approved. The Board received an update on El Nino preparations. The Metro TAC (Technical Advisory Committee) has been working closely with the Participating Agencies, including Del Mar on El Nino preparations. Del Mar’s Public Works Director, Joe Bride, can provide more info if requested as he serves as our TAC representative.
Dwight Worden.
October 6, 2026 Item XII(N)