Port, feds working to restore homes’ coastal barrier

CORONADO — The San Diego Unified Port District is working with federal engineers to help end the tale of two Coronado bay-front neighbors who created a small beach by removing rocks in front of their homes, violating environmental law in the process. The owners – Bill Dickerson and Larry Gunning – also built a concrete-block wall that port officials say sits partly on state tidelands. Much of the work was done without permits required by local, state and federal agencies. Deputy Port Attorney Leslie Fitzgerald gave port commissioners an update Tuesday on a settlement agreement, approved in August 2008. Fitzgerald said the homeowners are awaiting Army Corps of Engineers approval to replace the rocks known as riprap, and that the port has been involved in negotiating and facilitating that approval. The Army Corps wants a detailed plan on how the owners will restore eel grass beds it says were damaged when the rocks were removed. Without the plan, the Army Corps will not issue a permit allowing the owners to move forward. Read the entire Union Tribune article here.