Encinitas allows proposal for Swami’s surf contest

Encinitas allows proposal for Swami’s surf contest!
By Tanya Mannes, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Thursday, March 11, 2010 at 12:23 a.m
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/11/council-allows-proposal-for-swamis-surf-contest/

ENCINITAS — The Encinitas City Council last night decided to open Swami’s Beach for a potential surf contest despite protests from local surfers who said the secluded point break should be kept pristine.


Until now, Encinitas has never allowed organized public events at Swami’s, which is less accessible than other local beaches.

Swami’s is a thin strip of sand, sometimes immersed in water at high tide, below steep sandstone bluffs just south of a spiritual retreat and meditation gardens. Surfers park in the lot above, then climb down a narrow access stairway with their boards.

The council voted 3-2 to allow world-renowned surfer Linda Benson to seek a city permit to hold her four-day women’s longboarding championship at Swami’s in October, as the Parks and Recreation Commission recommended.

Mayor Dan Dalager, Councilman James Bond and Vice Mayor Maggie Houlihan said the city’s permit process will determine whether Benson’s contest can work at that beach.

“That’s what the process is about,” Dalager said. “It may not get through the process, or it may.”

Benson is a surfing world champion. Her contest, the Women’s World Longboard Championships, was held in France in past years.

In her presentation to the council, she said the contest would showcase Encinitas as a surf town, and she pledged to be sensitive to the environment.

The proposal will be analyzed by city staff members who will determine whether to issue a permit. Benson will be required to pay for city expenses such as traffic control, officials said.

Opponents at last night’s meeting reiterated concerns that the event with 64 competitors would block access for local surfers in prime wave season, and they raised concerns about parking, traffic congestion and access. They fear Benson’s contest would set a precedent for reserving Swami’s.

Councilman Jerome Stocks and Councilwoman Teresa Barth didn’t support allowing Benson to seek a permit because of what Stocks called the “serious logistical issues” at that beach.



http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/mar/11/council-allows-proposal-for-swamis-surf-contest/