PISMO BEACH CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item 9.G
Meeting Date: July 1, 2025
TITLE:
Local Coastal Program Local Assistance Grant Application to the California Coastal Commission
RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt a Resolution authorizing the submission of a grant application for, and receipt of, up to $900,000 in funding to assist in updating the City’s Local Coastal Program from the California Coastal Commission.
DISCUSSION:
On June 3, 2025, the City Council adopted Resolution R-2025-033 authorizing the submission of a grant application to the California Coastal Commission (CCC) in the amount of $500,000 to assist with updating the City’s Local Coastal Program (LCP).
Subsequent to Council’s action, staff met with CCC staff and the Engineering Geologist on the project and determined that the scope for the sea level rise analysis would require additional data sources and policy development, increasing the cost of the LCP update.
To this end, staff is now returning to the Council with a request to increase the grant authorization amount from $500,000 to $900,000.
The City was previously awarded a total of $85,000 and $170,000 as part of the CCC Round 6 grant funding. To date, the City has received 100% of those funds. The City was also awarded $500,000 as part of CCC Round 7 grant funding. There is approximately $300,000 in Round 7 funds remaining which are currently being used to update the majority of the LCP, including the Land Use, Noise, Circulation, Conservation and Open Space Elements and the Zoning Code.
The current request for funding will allow the City to update the Safety Element, with a neighborhood-based planning and adaptation approach. The Parks, Recreation, and Access (PRA) Element is also proposed to be updated along with revisions to the zoning code for consistency with the Safety Element and PRA.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Staff recommends the City Council adopt a Resolution (Attachment 1) authorizing staff submittal of grant application to the CCC in an amount not to exceed $900,000.
This amount would recapture costs associated with staff and consultant time devoted to the project for approximately the next two to three years.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The fiscal impact of adopting the subject resolution is a potential for up to $900,000 in additional grant revenues. The City’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget includes $350,000 in grant revenues and expenditures at this time. If the application is successful, the funds would reimburse costs associated with staff and consultant time. If the City is awarded this grant, Council Agenda 7-1-2025 9.G-1
staff would return to Council to accept the grant and make any budget related changes as needed.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution
Prepared by: Brian Schwartz, Contract Planner
Submitted by: Scot Graham, Community Development Director City Manager Approval:
Council Agenda 7-1-2025 9.G-2
RESOLUTION NO. R-2025-XXX
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PISMO BEACH,
CALIFORNIA AUTHORIZING THE SUBMISSION OF A GRANT APPLICATION FOR, AND RECEIPT OF, UP TO $900,000 IN FUNDING TO ASSIST IN UPDATING THE CITY’S LOCAL COASTAL PROGRAM FROM THE CALIFORNIA COASTAL
COMMISSION
WHEREAS, the Budget Act of 2021 provides up to $31 million to support the Coastal Commission’s LCP Local Assistance Grant Program which awards grants to local governments to support coastal resiliency and updates to Local Coastal Programs (LCPs); and
WHEREAS, the California Coastal Commission, under the authority of the California Coastal Act, may provide financial assistance to support coastal planning and has approved a grant program to provide such financial assistance for LCP planning; and WHEREAS, the goal of the grant program is to develop new or updated LCPs in conformance with the California Coastal Act and to promote coastal resiliency and address the effects of climate change; and
WHEREAS, grant proposals submitted under this grant program must complete Local Coastal Program (LCP) planning work with special emphasis on coastal resiliency and addressing the effects of climate change and sea-level rise; and WHEREAS, the City of Pismo Beach has an effectively certified LCP; and WHEREAS, the City of Pismo Beach desires to pursue a project that would result in the completion and submittal for certification by the California Coastal Commission of an Amendment to the LCP in part; and
WHEREAS, the City of Pismo Beach commits to and agrees to fully support a planning effort intended to amend a certified LCP pursuant to the provisions of the California Coastal Act, with full public participation and coordination with the Coastal Commission staff.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Pismo Beach hereby authorizes the Community Development Director to:
1.Submit the grant application package to the California Coastal Commission to provide financial and planning assistance, under authority of the California Coastal Act, in an amount not to exceed $900,000 to fund the project more particularly described in the grant application package.
Council Agenda 7-1-2025 9.G-3
Attachment 1
2.Execute, in the name of the City of Pismo Beach, all necessary applications, contracts, and agreements and amendments thereto to implement and carry out the grant application package and any project approved through approval of the grant application.
UPON MOTION OF Council Member , seconded by Council Member , the foregoing resolution was adopted by the City Council of the City of Pismo Beach this 1st day of July 2025, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
RECUSED:
Approved: Attest:
________________________ ________________________
Ed Waage, Mayor Erica Inderlied, City Clerk
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of Pismo Beach, California, on _______________________. ________________________
Erica Inderlied, City Clerk
Council Agenda 7-1-2025 9.G-4
Attachment 1