Residents Irate Over Bulkhead Project

Some residents in the Canals section of Long Beach are upset with the city’s bulkhead rehabilitation project, arguing that the taller bulkheads are blocking their view of the water and still failing to prevent street flooding.

“It obstructs the view, it’s an eyesore and a tremendous waste of money,” said Anne Aber, a Heron Street resident.

Residents said the heavy rains over the weekend flooded the Canals and the new bulkheads did nothing to prevent it.

The city’s $1.6 million bulkhead project, which began in November, is slated for completion by Memorial Day, said Kevin Mulligan, the city’s Department of Public Works commissioner.

The new bulkheads are nine feet high, about two feet taller than the old wooden bulkheads they are replacing. The new bulkheads were originally built 10 feet high, but were lowered a foot in January after an “uproar” from neighbors, Mulligan said.

The old bulkheads needed to be replaced because they were about 40 years old and the Federal Emergency Management Agency remapped the flood zone in Long Beach, requiring that the bulkheads along the Reynolds Channel in the Canals be nine or 10 feet high, he noted.

The bulkhead project includes State, Heron, Doyle, Boyd, Kerrigan and Farrell streets.

Mulligan maintains that during last weekend’s rainstorm the new bulkheads “did the job.”

“Anytime you have two to three inches of rain in that short period of time during a high tide period, you’re going to have street flooding because it’s not designed to handle that much,” Mulligan said. “The water came over the top of the old bulkheads.”

He said the city has a responsibility to protect the property of its residents, even if it means taking away some of the view of the Reynolds Channel.

“All bulkheads in the future will be that height and it’s because of something called global warming,” City Manager Charles Theofan said. “The water [over the weekend] was one and a half to two feet below the top of the new bulkheads, which proves that it’s a correct height. People who are doing their own bulkheads are building them at that elevation and so is any property owner who wants to protect their property.

“They say it blocks their view of the Reynolds Channel,” Theofan added. “I guess it does to some extent. The tradeoff is to protect all residents on their street from flooding.”

But Dr. Jo Eisman, a Heron Street resident, said she doesn’t feel any safer with the construction of the new bulkheads.

“If I can say that I’m safe and my property is safe and I don’t have to worry anymore, it might be worth it,” Eisman said. “But I’m not safe. I still have flooding and I can still lose my house.”

She added that the new bulkheads are a “complete eyesore” and may devalue her house, in addition to taking away from her view of the water.

Bulkheads are not designed to prevent flooding, said Eisman, adding that the water is rising up from the street’s storm drain during high tide.

“You can make a bulkhead 500 feet high and it will not protect you from the flooding,” said Eisman, who added that the recent storm produced upwards of eight inches of water in the street. “A bulkhead is not meant to keep water out, but to keep the land in, so that the dirt is not washed away.”

Resident Nan Beilinson called it “just a mess.”

“All I know is that they wasted a lot of money,” she continued. “I think it’s worse than before. It didn’t accomplish what it was supposed to. The street is sinking lower and lower.”

Another resident, Arlene Brown, added, “I don’t like what it looks like and it doesn’t work. The whole place is flooded.”

Aber said the money should have been spent on dredging the channel, which would have added depth and kept the water contained in the ocean.

“They certainly have zero value,” Aber said of the rebuilt bulkheads. “For all the money and the displeasure it has caused, I don’t see the purpose for it. I used to see the water. Now when I look down the block I see a corrugated wall.”