What's Being Proposed
An 18-foot bronze statue of a female surfer is proposed for the Dirt Farm, a beloved coastal bluff along East Cliff Drive in Pleasure Point. The installation also includes a 650 square foot concrete plaza with benches and native landscaping.
The Dirt Farm — East Cliff Drive, Pleasure Point
Application #251522 East Cliff Drive (No Situs) APN: 032-251-07
Public hearing to consider a proposal to install an approximately 18-foot-tall bronze figurative sculpture, 3 custom cast concrete benches, and native landscaping at the East Cliff Bluffs Park site, a County owned parcel. Requires a Coastal Development Permit, a Site Development Permit, and a Variance to reduce the required front yard setback from 30 feet to about zero feet and reduce the west side yard setback from 30 feet to about 13 feet.
Consider a determination that the project is exempt from further analysis pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Property located on the south (ocean) side of East Cliff Drive (no situs), across from the intersection of Manzanita and East Cliff Drive.
- Owner
- County of Santa Cruz c/o Rob Tidmore
- Applicant
- Kari Lochhead
- District
- Supervisorial District 1
- Planner
- Rebecca Rockom — (831) 454-3121 / Rebecca.Rockom@santacruzcountyca.gov
What's at Stake
An Irreplaceable Coastal Bluff
The Dirt Farm is one of the last remaining undeveloped bluff-top parcels on East Cliff Drive. For generations, Pleasure Point residents have gathered here to watch sets roll in, let their dogs run, and simply breathe. It is not a park by design — it is a patch of raw Santa Cruz coastline that has survived decades of development pressure. Once it is paved, fenced, and monumentalized, that wildness cannot be restored.
Bluff Erosion and Long-Term Damage
An 18-foot bronze statue at a prominent coastal overlook will draw significant new foot traffic to a bluff edge that is already under pressure from the sea. Coastal bluffs in Santa Cruz erode naturally — and human activity accelerates that process. Concentrated visitor use, informal paths cutting toward the edge, and the compaction of sandy soil around a monument installation could hasten bluff retreat in ways that are difficult or impossible to reverse. What is gained as a destination could be lost as a coastline.
Scale Out of Step With the Space
The Dirt Farm is defined by three iconic palm trees that frame the ocean horizon and give the site its quiet, unhurried character. An 18-foot bronze statue — nearly two stories tall — would overpower that landscape entirely. The monument would not complement the setting; it would compete with it. Good public art earns its place through proportion and relationship to its surroundings. This proposal has neither.
Impact on the Surrounding Neighborhood
The homes immediately adjacent to the Dirt Farm would bear the cost of this installation most directly. A high-profile monument brings increased parking pressure, late-night gatherings, and noise that spills into quiet residential blocks. The ocean views that define life in this neighborhood — and that residents have built their homes around — would be permanently altered. These are real, lasting consequences for the people who live closest to the proposed site, and they deserve far greater weight in the decision.
A Process That Moved Too Fast
The community deserves a genuine say in decisions that permanently alter shared public space. The timeline for this proposal has been compressed, notifications have been inadequate, and the voices of those most affected — the neighbors, the regulars, the people who use this space every day — have not been meaningfully heard. Supporting the right statue in the right place starts with a process that respects the community it claims to honor.