NAPLES’ CRUMBLING CANAL WALLS: Part 1

Since the early 1930s, the canal walls of Naples, built in 1905-1906, have been crumbling. Major repairs made in 1939 and 1967 are no longer adequate and today the problem has resurfaced.

Work done in 1967 raised the canal walls 16-18 inches at the cost of $455,000 ($4.15 million in 2023), according to the March 8, 1967 Press-Telegram. That same year, $1.332 million ($12.2 million) was allotted for reconstruction of 4 of the 5 bridges over the canals. (PT 2/1/1967). All was paid for with Tideland Oil money.

Tidelands

Long Beach tidelands were first explored in the 1920s. The controversy over who had control of these tidelands would go on for more than thirty years all because the United States Constitution did not specify under whose jurisdiction these submerged lands fell. The states, however, acted as if they were in control and it was the State of California who granted Long Beach tidelands rights when the city petitioned to build a harbor in 1911. After much litigation, Long Beach exercised its 1911 right to its tidelands and began oil exploration in 1938.

For years, Long Beach accumulated tidelands funds until legally allowed to use them. In 1953, the issue seemed resolved when President Eisenhower fulfilled one of his campaign promises by recognizing states’ rights over their tidelands – rights California had given to Long Beach.

Legally, the City of Long Beach could not use the money received from tidelands oil for general city purposes, or they might lose the state grant given them back in 1911. These tidelands included Long Beach’s beaches, the Pike amusement zone, the site of the Municipal Auditorium, most of the Alamitos peninsula, nearly all of Belmont Shore, all of the water area inside the breakwater and even some of the submerged land beyond.

With the release of these funds, Long Beach soon had a surplus of money, money that wasn’t needed to improve the land surrounding the tidelands. Long Beach petitioned to the state to be allowed to use this money for inland projects. Both the Assembly and Senate agreed to the request and Governor Warren signed the measure allowing Long Beach to construct hospitals, parks, hospitals, libraries and streets with tidelands money as long as they benefited the entire region.

Battles

Many thought Long Beach was greedy. In April 1955, the decision of the State Supreme Court sent Long Beach rocking. It had ruled against the City of Long Beach in the Mallon case (Mallon v. City of Long Beach), issuing a decision that ordered nearly $100 million in oil and gas revenues be paid to the state. It also established that 50 percent of all future tidelands oil and dry gas revenues go to the California state treasury and that money be used exclusively for tideland, not inland, improvements.

Battles over use of Long Beach tideland funds would go on for years and are still continuing. In 2015, $14 million ($18 million) and in 2020 $18 million ($21.2 million) was spent to reconstruct sea walls along Rivo Alto Canal.

Funding for these first two phases of a six-phase project had long been an issue. The California Coastal Commission refused to approve the project stating, along with other concerns, Naples’ homeowners had been permitted to use portions of state tidelands in front of their homes at no cost (LB Register 10/10/2013). This was against the law. To gain Coastal Commission approval, the Commission stated seventeen issues Long Beach needed to address. Among these stipulations, Long Beach had to pay for construction of public sidewalks along both sides of Rivo Alto Canal and build a handicapped access trail along Sorrento Drive. In addition, owners of piers and docks on state waters along the canals would need to pay fair market rent.

In 2024, consulting firm Tetra Tech recommended the remaining four seawalls be repaired at a cost of $125 million. But Tideland funds are running out, its share of oil money being curtailed even further. It is projected Tidelands expenditures will be structurally unbalanced as early as FY 2027 (according to a memorandum from the Public Works department issued November 8, 2024) affecting capital funds, as well as large potential reductions to basic operations. So, who will pay for the canal wall repairs, estimated to cost $125 million?

Part 2 of this series will discuss what was done in the years of the Great Depression. Perhaps lessons learned in the 1930s, before there was Tideland money, will offer a solution.

Claudine Burnett is a retired research librarian who has written over 10 books on Long Beach history as well as numerous journal articles. For more, visit her website www.claudineburnettbooks.com