An eroding cliff in the Sunset Cliffs area has prompted the city of San Diego to shut down the only public access to the beach in the area.
A section of the cliff fell early February 13 near the location of the beach stairs at Sunset Cliffs Boulevard and Ladera Street.
Surfers and beachgoers use the stairs to get to and from the water.
“If the stairs were to go away completely, it would be pretty hard to surf here,” said surfer George Pantano.
Pantano said he is willing to take the risk of using the stairs in order to get to the spot where he surfs pretty regularly.
On February 14, an NBC 7 news crew spotted several people doing just that - jumping over a sign that was put up by city crews.
Cameron Portee said he decided to take the risk in order to see the shore but he wouldn’t advise others to do the same.
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“You can see the different structure and the hills and the mountains and you can see it’s cracking,” Portee said.
He would like to see the city of San Diego develop better ways for people to get down to the beach.
“Or to develop a structure to ensure the hills don't collapse or anything goes wrong,” he said.
Dedi Ridenour has lived in the neighborhood for 82 years and said the erosion of the cliffs is nothing new.
“People have worked around it,” Ridenour said.
She said the city should keep access to the swimming area and surfing area available to the public.
“Those stairs should be left open so the people can get down,” she said.
The city of San Diego told NBC 7 the stairs will remain closed to the public until they can take a closer look at the new crack and determine what needs to be done next.
On August 6, the San Diego City Council held the vote on whether or not to allocate $1.8 million from other projects to repair the stairs.
"If the city's going to promote it, they should build it. They should fix it so it's right," said surfer Gil Jansky.
An emergency permit would skip the Coastal Commission's review of the proposal.
The Sunset Cliffs Natural Park Board told the city council that they are against this proposal to fix the current stairs and instead prefer building somewhere safer.
The San Diego City Council unanimously voted to approve the $1.8 million emergency project.
It is unclear when the stairs will be completed.
