Council Launches Coastal Resilience Planning, Honors Late Mayor Nihart

Pacifica's City Council used its Jan. 26 meeting to honor a beloved civic leader, welcome new staff, and take early steps toward a high-stakes coastal adaptation process that will shape the city's shoreline for decades. The session balanced ceremony with substance, as residents pressed officials on short-term rental transparency ahead of a Coastal Commission hearing and council members laid groundwork for community engagement on sea-level rise.

• Council unanimously creates ad hoc subcommittee to guide coastal resilience engagement process

• Proclamation honors former Mayor Mary Ann Nihart's decades of local and regional service

• New Economic & Housing Development Manager and Deputy Community Development Director introduced

• Residents demand STR permit transparency ahead of California Coastal Commission hearing

• Mayor Boles appointed liaison to the Climate Action and Resilience Committee

• Consent calendar passes unanimously

The council held a lengthy study session on implementing Pacifica's Local Coastal Land Use Plan, focusing on two overlapping mandates: the Coastal Access & Resilience Program (CARP) and the Shoreline Adaptation Program (SAP). Both programs stem from SB 272, which requires coastal cities to plan for sea-level rise and establish a Sea-Level Rise Adaptation and Resilience Authority (SSRA) by January 2026.