Design contest angers surfers

On the Orange County coast there are only a few rugged spots left — where the cliff falls into the Pacific or the beach is buffered by sage, not homes.

One of those spots is Lower Trestles. This beach and surf break near San Clemente is even more special than the rest because of its world-class waves and its exotic (for Orange County) trek to the beach. It’s down a dirt path, across live railroad tracks and through the marshlands.

Now, some locals fear that their special experience at Lowers will be ruined by conservationists, environmentalists and architects who want to build a new trail and to make the railroad crossing safe.

The activists have organized a design competition to create a path that would keep beachgoers off sensitive vegetation, and it has sparked a backlash among some surfers who would rather keep it the way it is: raw.

As the deadline to enter the contest approached, some surfers have begun grumbling at the beach and on the contest’s Web forum.

They complain that easier access would bring more crowds to the beach and the lineup. This, they say, is one of the last untouched spots after 30 years of a Southern California population boom.

“This is Trestles. Don’t we have enough beaches where we can bring the umbrellas and coolers and family and everything?” asked Mike Reola, who has been surfing at Trestles for 25 years. “It’s already crowded enough here.”

On a solid swell Lowers can indeed get crowded, but that’s mainly in the water, where surfers jockey for position on waves. The beach itself is usually calm. What holds down the crowd is the lack of nearby parking; the closest lot is by a Carl’s Jr. about 1.5 miles to the north.

The competition guidelines restrict any new parking (disabled spots may be an exception), but they do call for a smooth, ADA-compliant path, bathrooms, a drinking fountain and, most significantly, some sort of crossing.

Currently, anyone walking over the tracks is technically trespassing.

“It’s just one small segment that needs to be safer,” said Mark Raucher, assistant environmental director at the Surfrider Foundation, one of the competition partners. “We want it to be pretty low-key and to blend in.”

Surfrider leaders and the others involved want to preserve and improve access to the beach.

“I don’t think that by making access safe you’re going to increase crowds,” he said. “The goal isn’t to bring more people to what some locals think is their secret spot.”