The Coronado City Council voted on April 16 to pass a motion that would restrict all beach fires in front of the Coronado Shores apartments on South Beach, while allowing for bonfires to be in personal smokeless stoves or propane stoves at Central and North Beach, in addition to the city-provided fire rings.
Mayor Richard Bailey, who was participating remotely from Nepal, was the only one who voted no against the motion.
History of the beach fire ordinance
The discussion on beach fires started in November 2023 when Council member John Duncan first brought up reviewing the policy on beach fires on South Beach — the beach that is only 150 feet away from the Las Palmas Tower at the Coronado Shores.
For reference, South Beach stretches from the end of Avenida Del Sol south to the fence line of the Naval Special Warfare Command Complex. Central Beach stretches from the intersection of Rh Dana Place and Ocean Boulevard north to the main Lifeguard tower. North Beach stretches from the main Lifeguard tower to the fence line of Naval Air Station North Island.
In the February city council meeting, city staff presented a full report of the regulations of fires on public beaches.
From 1979-2014, bonfires were permitted on Coronado when using city-provided fire rings, personal barbecues and personal fire ring containers.
In 2014, the ordinance was changed to only allow for fire materials to be charcoal and clean wood in order to be consistent with the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District.
More than a handful of residents of the Shores showed up to the meeting on Feb. 20 to ask the council to restrict fires at South Beach because of the smoke rising to their apartments.
The council then approved a motion to limit beach fires to only the city and state-provided rings and prohibit all use of portable fire pits, grills and barbecues.
February’s meeting also brought up a potential option of using smokeless fire pits as a compromise to the wood-burning fire pits that bring smoke to the Shores residents.
The smokeless fire pits still allow for a contained fire, but certain engineering lessens the smoke produced by the fire.
The fight to find compromise
The meeting on April 16 was the first official reading of the ordinance to amend the Coronado Municipal Code regarding the fires, which previously allowed for personal fire rings such as grills or fire pits.
Over an hour’s worth of the city council meeting was absorbed by public comments from community members on both sides of the issue.
One side stated that the smoke from the fires reaches the residents at the Shores, affecting the air quality of those who live right on the beach.
“My unit is heavily impacted by the fires,” Coronado Shores resident Andrew Corley said. “I come in and the apartment is full of smoke and it smells like smoke. It’s visually in my house.”
The other side stated that windows and doors that let in the smoke in the apartments can be closed, and fires on the beach are a tradition that shouldn’t be taken away.
“Banning beach fires would not only take away beloved pastimes, but also diminish the cultural and recreational fabric of our city,” Coronado resident Maggie Olsen said.
Bailey reminded the community of the initial question: “What are we trying to solve and where are we trying to solve it?”
Bailey said that the initial problem was to improve the air quality outside of the Coronado Shores apartments.
“I do believe there is an impact,” Bailey said about the smoke affecting residents. “But we haven’t quantified that, so it’s impossible to know which solution is most effective.”
He said that he was most supportive of limiting beach fires on South Beach to the smokeless fire pits, as he believes it is the most balanced and the most environmentally friendly option the city currently has.
Allowing beach bonfires to continue and personal smokeless devices acknowledges that one, some Shores residents are adversely affected by the smoke. Two, it recognizes that many of our Coronado residents responsibly enjoy beach bonfires with their friends and family in small gatherings.
Mayor Richard Bailey
“Allowing beach bonfires to continue and personal smokeless devices acknowledges that one, some Shores residents are adversely affected by the smoke,” Bailey explained. “Two, it recognizes that many of our Coronado residents responsibly enjoy beach bonfires with their friends and family in small gatherings.”
Councilmember Casey Tanaka agreed with Bailey and said that the smoke issue is an important issue, and something that should be seriously considered. However, he said he has to listen to multiple groups.
“As much as I want to mitigate the smoke problem for those who face it at the Shores, I can’t mitigate it entirely,” Tanaka said. “And there’s nothing wrong with the argument of a group of 4 to 8 people who want to sit around a solo stove and use it appropriately.”
Councilmember Mike Donovan also believed there was a compromise. His ideas were to restrict beach fires at the Shores but allow personal propane stoves to be brought to Coronado’s Central and North Beach along with the city-provided fire rings – which is the decision that ultimately ended up being passed.
All council members voted to pass the motion, except for Bailey, who said he couldn’t pass this motion because of what was brought up during public comment – that many people outside of the Coronado residents use the city-designated fire pits.
“What this motion would accomplish, is it would essentially allow members from outside the Coronado community to come and burn wood in our fire pits,” Bailey said. “But it would not allow our own residents to take portable wood fire burning devices, unless they were a specialized device, in these same areas.”
