Popular Pacifica beach path collapses during storm

PACIFICA, Calif. (KGO) -- A popular beach access path in Pacifica is closed after it crumbled and collapsed during a storm Saturday.

Neighbors are worried as the recent storm damaged the only foot path down to a beach on Esplanade Avenue.

"I just came back this morning and saw it has been wiped out," Pacifica resident John McManus said.

McManus can't believe that the only coastal access path off Esplanade Avenue is gone. The 30-foot section of the concrete path buckled and collapsed into the ocean during the storm.

"In terms of the beach, I don't know how you're going to get down there now," McManus said.

ABC7 News viewer Dave Moorehouse shared drone video of the collapse, showing a large green pipe that is now exposed and a clear view thru the hole, down to the surf.

Neighbor Regina Sabogal is worried. "It's terrible, a lot of people are scared, those who live close to the ocean and their properties, their values are going down," she said.

And only feet away, more Earth underneath the apartment building at 310 Esplande Avenue crumbled, putting it even closer to the edge.

Pacifica resident Bart Willoughby used to live in the area until the city yellow tagged the building he lived in last winter.

The city demolished two other buildings on Esplande Avenue last March after erosion made them unsafe to occupy.

"These cliffs are sandstone and sand and there's water that drains through them, especially after periods of rain, I don't see how it can be stopped," McManus said.

The Pacifica city manager says the coastal access path is private property owned by a nearby apartment community.

So far, the apartment's management has not released a statement.

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