Northern San Luis Obispo County Coastal Trail Master Plan

Master Plan Recommendations
Figure 4-12: CCT in bluff retreat cross section from MP 57.3, south of Hearst Castle
Information available for the Master Plan did not include precise site-specific data for the rate of bluff retreat.
To generally characterize the issue, the inventory and mapping of conditions for the CCT identified two
coastal bluff retreat area classifications based on review of aerial photos (oblique views for general conditions
and cross-sections from the Coastal Records Project, dated 2004 and Google Earth photos from 2011 for the
approximate horizontal dimensions):
1. Areas where there was less than 20 feet of available relatively level land between the Highway
shoulder/edge of pavement and the bluff edge, and;
2. Areas where there was between 20 and 40 feet of available relatively level land between the Highway
shoulder/edge of pavement and the bluff edge.
The detail of the inventory is presented in Appendix F.
The dimensions, information and method used for the inventory are generalized – any site specific planning
should be based on more accurate topographic information and site-specific assessment of coastal bluff
retreat. However the inventory provides the basis for guidelines for trail improvements in these narrow areas
as summarized below.
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