The sandy beach at Lovers Point owes much of its existence to the concrete pier that has been missing part of its seaward tip for nearly six years.
In September the City of Pacific Grove announced a $750,000 grant from the California Coastal Conservancy for the Lovers Point Pier Repair Project. Most coverage treated it as an infrastructure story about a damaged walkway. The city's own release says something more important. It calls the pier a major reason the beach formed, and it warns that without the pier and rock jetty, the way sand moves and settles around the cove would change "to the detriment of public access and recreational beach usage." So the money on the table this fall is really for the sand. The pier is the tool that keeps it there.
A cove that was dug out, then held in place
Lovers Point did not always look the way it does now. The city's 2023 engineering presentation to Council lays out the sequence.
- 1875. A bathhouse is built at the cove, which had been used for bathing since Pacific Grove's early days as a resort.
- 1897. A wooden wharf goes up across from the bathhouse, and pleasure boats tie up there.
- Around 1900. A granite quarry makes the cove larger.
- Before 1907. A cement pier replaces the wooden wharf.
- 1909. The pier is extended with two large concrete monoliths capped in granite rock and cement.
The quarry opened up the cove, and the pier has sheltered it ever since. In its September 2026 staff recommendation, the Coastal Conservancy describes the pier and its riprap as protection that keeps direct wave action out of the cove and helps the beach form and hold its sand. The California Coastal Commission's December 2025 report on the project says the same. Removing that protection would change nearby sediment patterns and could erode the sandy beach.
Why a chipped tip matters on a pier built like a wall
Most piers stand on pilings. Lovers Point Pier doesn't. The city's engineers describe it as primarily a gravity structure. It doesn't depend on columns or concrete beams. Its own weight holds it in place on a natural ridge of granite bedrock. Inside, it's layers of concrete and riprap. In the 1980s it got a concrete shell, and that shell protects the weaker older material underneath.
That shell is where the damage is. In a winter storm, wave run-up knocked segments of the concrete tip loose and exposed what the city calls "the more vulnerable core of the 100+-year-old gravity structure." The records disagree on the month. The city's 2026 release says December 2020. The 2023 engineering presentation and the Conservancy's staff recommendation place the damage in January 2021. Either way, the old core has been open to the ocean through every winter since.
On a pier that stands on pilings, a broken end is mostly a problem for people walking out to it. On a gravity pier, the outer shell protects everything behind it. If the shell keeps failing, the pier slowly stops being a solid barrier, and a solid barrier is the only reason the cove stays calm. Daniel Gho, Pacific Grove's Public Works Director and Deputy City Manager, made that connection when he spoke to KSBW after the grant was announced:
"As you can see, the Lovers Point Pier really protects our sandy cove and our beach, which is used by thousands of visitors daily in the summer. And without that pier there, the wave run-up on the beach would be so significant that we would think that the sand could possibly wash away and create damage to these walls, and interfere with the businesses that are associated with the park."
The Conservancy describes the structure itself as a publicly accessible pier about 100 feet long, with an upper walkway, a lower deck and stairs that go down into the water. All of that sits on the rock-and-concrete mass the repair is meant to protect.
Where the money stands this fall
The fix has been designed for three years. Paying for it has taken longer. City Council approved repair plans in October 2023, and the Coastal Commission granted a Coastal Development Permit Waiver in December 2025. The figures from the past year and a half don't all agree:
| Source | Date | What it says about funding |
|---|---|---|
| City unfunded-project list | 2025 | Near-term construction cost of $1,450,000; FY25/26 request of $217,500, or 15% of the estimate; FY26/27 request "to be determined" |
| Coastal Conservancy staff recommendation | September 17, 2026 | Up to $750,000 from the Conservancy, $750,000 from the city, $1,500,000 total budget |
| City of Pacific Grove release | September 21, 2026 | 2023 estimate of $1.5 million; staff will "continue to work on securing additional grant funding" |
| KSBW | September 22, 2026 | City "still working to secure the remaining funding" for the $1.5 million project |
On paper, the Conservancy's budget table covers the full amount with the city's matching share. But the two statements published after that recommendation both say the city is still raising money. The $1.5 million figure also dates from 2023, and nothing published since has updated it. So the grant covers about half the 2023 estimate, and the rest is still unsettled.
What has to happen before a crew arrives
KSBW reported that work could begin by spring 2027 "if all goes as planned." That "if" comes with a checklist. Under the resolution in the Conservancy's staff recommendation (Project No. 26-042-01, managed by Irvin Tang), the city has to submit the following for written approval before work starts:
- A detailed work program, schedule and budget.
- The names and qualifications of any contractors it plans to hire.
- A plan for crediting the Conservancy funding and Proposition 4, which is where the money comes from.
- Evidence that every required permit and approval is in hand.
The city has also said it will work with the Conservancy to formalize the grant agreement. Put those steps next to a funding gap that hasn't closed, and spring 2027 is a goal, not a set date. The permit waiver is the piece already finished.
What the sand holds up
The park behind the beach has had a busy two years, and all of it depends on the calm water the pier creates.
The biggest change is at 631 Ocean View Blvd. Crema Lovers Point reopened there on April 1, 2026, after a remodel built around the view, according to Edible Monterey Bay. By late June, after the liquor license transferred, owner-operator Tamie Aceves was pouring a cocktail menu, including a Deepwater Daiquiri made with Humboldt Distillery organic rum and five espresso cocktails using Cat & Cloud coffee. The same Edible Monterey Bay report says Aceves is planning a second phase with a full-size kitchen and the former Tinnery space.
Down by the water, the Snack Shack's operators won a five-year lease from the city in 2025. Pam Marino reported for Monterey County Weekly that the lease carries a possible five-year renewal at the city's sole discretion, a detail Edible Monterey Bay passed along that spring. The pier itself is part of the town calendar too. The city's event schedule listed Pacific Grove Summer Lights at Lovers Point Park & Pier on July 25, 2026.
The beach's calm water is the reason the city keeps an eye on it, too. When the Monterey Herald reported a temporary water-quality advisory at Lovers Point on August 24, 2026, the guidance was to stay out of the water until the advisory was lifted. Few beaches on this stretch of coast are used enough for that kind of notice to matter. Lovers Point is one of them.
The money for the pier is about keeping the beach in front of Crema's windows, the Snack Shack's counter and the Summer Lights crowd. If the shell at the end of a 1909 extension keeps wearing away, the effect shows up first in the sand.
I follow projects like the Lovers Point Pier repair because they decide what Pacific Grove's waterfront looks like for decades. If you want to talk about how coastal projects like this shape the stretch of town you love, Ryan Sherman would be glad to compare notes. Schedule a private consultation.
