Capitola city leaders plan to ask residents whether a restaurant and other buildings should be rebuilt on the Capitola Wharf. (Stephen Baxter — Santa Cruz Local file)
CAPITOLA >> More than two years after the Capitola Wharf buckled under heavy storms, city leaders are asking whether businesses should return to the recently rebuilt structure.
Some residents and Capitola City Council members urged caution about pouring more money into a wharf so vulnerable to an increasingly tumultuous ocean.
At a city council meeting Thursday night, an architectural consultant presented several options. Each included benches, a public stage and a new bathroom.
Other possible components included:
- Movable kiosks for restaurants, bait stops, or other businesses.
- A lifeguard station.
- A permanent fishing shop with boat rental, repair and storage.
- A permanent restaurant.
A design without kiosks, buildings, or a lifeguard station would cost about $1 million, while one with multiple new buildings could cost more than $6 million, according to a consultant’s presentation.
The wharf formerly hosted Wharf House Restaurant and Capitola Boat and Bait.
Heavy winter storms in January 2023 uprooted pilings and ripped off part of the wharf’s deck. Another storm in December 2023 partially collapsed the two longtime businesses. Both were demolished in February 2024.
A rebuilt wharf with a wider deck and new pilings opened September 2024.
The wharf was built in 1857.
The Capitola City Council in February. From left are Councilmember Margaux Morgan, Vice Mayor Alexander Pedersen, Mayor Joe Clarke and Councilmembers Melinda Orbach and Gerry Jensen. (Marcello Hutchinson-Trujillo — Santa Cruz Local)
A crew repairs the Capitola Wharf in January 2023. (Jesse Kathan — Santa Cruz Local file)
Capitola resident Dennis Norton said at Thursday night’s meeting that the wharf is most important as a fishing spot, and cautioned against investing in a structure likely to face future damage.
“The option to do nothing should be on the table,” Norton said.
Capitola Councilmember Melinda Orbach agreed that city residents and leaders should consider the effects of climate change as they decide the wharf’s future.
“There are more and more devastating storms and floodings that Capitola will face,” she said. “I think we do have to be smart with our money.”
In April and May, city staff plan to start asking what the broader public wants for the wharf with a survey and in-person and virtual meetings. Meeting times and dates have not yet been set.
What do you think?
Read more:
- Capitola Wharf set to reopen in August — May 6, 2024
- Capitola repairs, additions on tap — Aug. 4, 2023
- Storm recovery continues in Capitola — Jan. 13, 2023
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Jesse Kathan is a staff reporter for Santa Cruz Local through the California Local News Fellowship. They hold a master's degree in science communications from UC Santa Cruz.
