Avila Beach: From Funky to Fabulous

Abstract

Among California’s coastal communities, beach may be the one most defined by its history. Amanda Ross discusses the unique planning and redevelopment process there, starting with the cleanup of a decadeslong crude oil spill that had contaminated the soil and led to the reconstruction of its beach and the entire historic downtown. This article reflects part of the activities for Professor Paul Wack’s Plan Implementation graduate class in 2015. Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/focus Part of the Urban, Community and Regional Planning Commons This Faculty and Student Work is brought to you for free and open access by the City and Regional Planning at DigitalCommons@CalPoly. It has been accepted for inclusion in Focus by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@CalPoly. For more information, please contact mwyngard@calpoly.edu. Recommended Citation Ross, Amanda (2016) Avila Beach: From Funky to Fabulous, Focus: Vol. 12: Iss. 1, Article 19. Available at: http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/focus/vol12/iss1/19 mong California s coastal communities, ila each ma be the one most defined b its histor manda Ross discusses the unique planning and redevelopment process there, starting with the cleanup of a decades long crude oil spill that had contaminated the soil and led to the reconstruction of its beach and the entire historic downtown. his article re ects part of the acti ies for Professor Paul Wack’s Plan Implementation graduate class in 2015. Beach: From Funky to Fabulous Amanda Ross Master of City and Regional Planning student, Cal Poly FOCUS 12 Faculty and Student Work Beach grew as a funky small shing town from its founding in in the late 19th Century as the main shipping port for San Luis Obispo. Buildings sprung up as the population grew, de ning a downtown along the beachfront (Figure 1). In 1906, Union Oil Co. built a 95-acre oil tank farm on higher ground next to the city and by World War II, 2 million gallons of crude oil a day were being pumped into tankers (Figure 2). Despite these operations, Beach remained a quaint small town with a popular beach. The appeal, built environment, and character of the town were forever changed in the early 1990s with the discovery that 22,000 gallons of crude oil from Unocal operations had been contaminating the soil under and surrounding the downtown for decades. The oil tanks leaked and so did the pipes that went under Front Street to connect to the tankers. Unocal agreed to pay $200 million in cleanup costs and damages in what was considered to be the largest environmental settlement in California’s history at the time. About 300,000 cubic yards of soil —sometimes 15 feet deep– had to be removed and replaced. The entire downtown including several residences were razed to remove the contaminated soil.