Who Decides When La Jolla's Beach Stairs Reopen?
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
"For those of you who don't know, this is a monumental accomplishment," La Jolla Parks & Beaches member Melinda Merryweather told her board on Oct. 5, as reported by the La Jolla Light in the San Diego Union-Tribune. She meant a single flight of stairs on Coast Boulevard. It took close to two years of permissions, contractor searches and fundraising to get there.
That one staircase explains most of La Jolla's coastline this fall. The stairs and trails coming back into use are the ones the community has paid to repair. The gates that stay locked are run by the City, UC San Diego and State Parks, each on a calendar residents can watch but can't change.
Work on the Whale View Point stairs in the 400 block of Coast Boulevard is scheduled to run from Oct. 14 through Wednesday, Oct. 28, between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. While the crew is working, the way down is the set of stairs near the Surf Shack across from 333 Coast Blvd.
Ellen Browning Scripps paid for the original stairway in the 1920s. Project volunteer Bob Evans, a former La Jolla Parks & Beaches president, put it bluntly: "I don't think there has been any maintenance or repair in the last 100 years." Crews will clear the sand, smooth the steps with slurry, and bond precast concrete pavers onto the existing treads. Landscape architect Jim Neri said the pavers and bonding material went through several rounds of review with the City. They are meant to resemble the old surface without copying it exactly.
The stairs are part of the La Jolla Park Coastal Historic District, which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in spring 2024. The district also takes in La Jolla Cove, the Children's Pool, Casa de Mañana and the Red Roost and Red Rest cottages. Volunteers began raising money for the repair at the district's listing celebration that November. Once the money was in hand, the project went to the La Jolla Coastal Conservancy. The Conservancy works under a right-of-entry permit, which lets private groups repair City land without starting a new approval process for every job. Four groups split the work: the City, the Museum of History and Culture La Jolla landmark steering committee, La Jolla Parks & Beaches and the Conservancy.
The same arrangement can stall. The South Casa Beach stairs, next to the Children's Pool lifeguard tower, lost their base in the storms of early 2024, and the City chained them off. They are still closed.
Conservancy chair Brenda Fake told the Parks & Beaches board that the project already has a City-approved design. Under the arrangement, the Conservancy covers all costs, engineering, construction contracting and permit applications. The City provides what Fake called "procedural support": help preparing permit materials, coordinating department reviews and inspecting the construction.
The money is what's missing. As of the Oct. 12 report:
| South Casa stairs | Status |
|---|---|
| Design | Approved by the City |
| Who pays | La Jolla Coastal Conservancy, all costs |
| Pledged so far | Up to $100,000 from one anonymous donor |
| Working cost estimate | About $5 million, based on comparable projects |
| Exact estimate | Not yet known |
| Funding status | Unfunded; grants being pursued |
The pledge covers about one-fiftieth of that rough estimate. For comparison, the Conservancy's invitation-only "Cocktails at the Cove" fundraiser on Oct. 1 brought in about $70,000, and that money is spread across many projects. South Casa is the clearest local case of the bottleneck this model creates. With the design approved and the City offering procedural support, funding is the remaining gap.
Most coastal upkeep happens at a scale no one holds a ribbon-cutting for. The Conservancy's September update, posted Oct. 1, lists the current jobs:
"As funding permits" and "still seeking" show up all through that list. The same model funds the dog-waste stations that Enhance La Jolla and the Conservancy installed on Aug. 26 at the Coast Walk/Cave Street and Park Row/Prospect Place trailheads. The Coast Walk bridge, which Friends of Coast Walk Trail celebrated with a ribbon-cutting in November 2025, was also marked by a volunteer group.
The coast's other closures come from agencies with their own rules, and donations don't move them.
Point La Jolla and Boomer Beach are closed all year. The City Council adopted the closure ordinance on Sept. 18, 2023, and a Coastal Development Permit backs it, so the old pupping-season-only closure no longer applies. According to the City's Point La Jolla page, anyone who enters the closed area can be cited under the municipal code, and the ocean-access corridor is for swimming only.
The Children's Pool beach closes to the public every year from Dec. 15 through May 15 for harbor seal pupping season, according to the City lifeguard page. This winter that means Dec. 15, 2026 through May 15, 2027.
La Jolla Cove is open, and its future is still under debate. At its Sept. 10 meeting, the California Coastal Commission discussed a La Jolla Parks & Beaches proposal to limit the Cove to swimmers, snorkelers and divers from June 1 to Sept. 15 each year, during sea lion pupping season. Commissioners said they would "very much" support it but took no action, according to the La Jolla Light. The proposal followed an August meeting where Commissioner Matt O'Malley raised the idea of a partial closure after a July incident in which a sea lion was harassed on the seawall. Parks & Beaches member Chas. Dye described the board's thinking at the time: "Given the choice of closing The Cove or this, I would take this." Right now the Cove is managed with more rangers carrying bullhorns, new signs and cones. A viewing platform and cameras are possible next steps. In August, the La Jolla Light reported that the City cannot enforce the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act and was asking the City Attorney whether it could write local tickets. No new authority has been reported since.
The Scripps Coastal Reserve has been mostly closed since March 2020. Before then it was open daily from 7 a.m. to sunset. The gate is now locked except during tours or student use, though the half-mile loop trail on the Mesa still has views across the reserve. UC San Diego withdrew and resubmitted its access-plan permit application again ahead of the Coastal Commission's Oct. 8 meeting. Commission spokesperson Joshua Smith told the La Jolla Light that "there are no limits to withdrawing and resubmitting." He added that state law requires a hearing within 180 days of a complete application, which can be extended once by 90 days. The application itself proposes keeping access limited and supervised, with guides.
Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, just up the coast, is closed from Sept. 22, 2026 through February 2027 for a multi-phase construction project. The park road, upper parking lots and all trails are closed to vehicles and pedestrians. The project covers utility work, comfort station upgrades, new parking stalls and paved accessible paths. The North Beach and South Beach lots and Torrey Pines State Beach stay open, and California State Parks expects full access by March 1, 2027.
South Casa has no date on this list because it has no funding. The Conservancy says it is applying for grants, and the anonymous $100,000 pledge stands.
The rules that decide whether a stairway reopens are the same Coastal Commission and permitting rules that apply to homes along this shoreline. Our team follows both closely. If you own a home near the La Jolla bluffs and want to know how those coastal rules affect its value, Kathleen Gelcich can prepare a private home valuation.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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