Severe damage to the Pacifica Pier will require federal aid and a state-level emergency declaration, lawmakers said Monday.
Major cracks where the concrete structure meets the land emerged earlier this month, prompting the immediate closure of the 1973-era walkway and demolition of the popular Chit Chat Cafe.
“We’re here to say we need to save this pier,” U.S. Rep. Sam Liccardo, D-San Jose, said. “It turns out that the climate doesn’t care whether or not we believe in climate change, and if we do not act, the ocean will always win the battle.”
Liccardo said the Trump Administration slashed a $50 million grant for Pacifica in 2025 originally issued under a Federal Emergency Management Agency program called Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities.
The funds were earmarked for the city’s Beach Boulevard Infrastructure Resiliency Project to replace Pacifica’s aging seawall, including at the base of the pier.
San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller said Pacifica had a plan to fix the pier a year ago, but the cancelation of the BRIC grants prevented the city from moving forward with the project.
“The Pacifica Pier is a casualty of the chaos of the Trump Administration,” Mueller said.
A year ago, “I said across the country, next time someone sees a bridge fall or a causality of infrastructure, they’re going to ask wasn’t there a program to fix it, and they’re going to point to the fact that the BRIC program was canceled,” Mueller said.
State Sen. Josh Becker, D-Menlo Park, who represents Pacifica and much of San Mateo County, called on California Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency to allow state resources to aid the city.
“This pier is more than a fishing destination, it’s a community gathering place,” Becker said. “This is a stark reminder that climate change is not theoretical, that it is here right now and is having a real impact on families, communities and businesses.”
“Pacifica is on the front lines of this,” he said.
Becker also said the state should allow Pacifica access to Proposition 4 funds — a $10 billion state bond measure approved by voters for climate resiliency.
On the federal level, Liccardo said that he would be introducing a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to allow states and local governments to use Community Development Block Grants to be used for disaster preparation.
The law, according to Liccardo, said funds under the program currently can only be used “after the disaster has struck.”
Roland Yip, the deputy director of public works and city engineer for Pacifica said that a full assessment was done of the pier in 2023 which did not reveal any issues where damage appeared this month.
Yip noted that by looking at the pier, you can see that more damage tends to occur on the section further out in the ocean than the beach.
City Manager Sean Charpentier added that while their investigation is still going on, it appears critical damage occurred after their assessment in 2023 during the storm season, then was exacerbated in 2024 and 2025 by additional storms and high surf.
Over the last five years, Charpentier noted that the city applied for $60 million to repair the seawall and pier, for which it has received only $1 million. Those funds were used to begin the design and engineering process for repairs.
The city’s financial situation and the loss of federal funding have made Christine Boles, the mayor of Pacifica, worried about how the city will be able to support the variety of costal infrastructure projects needed to protect housing and businesses along the coastline.
“When it was bult in 1973, it only cost $5 million,” Boles said of the pier. “A new seawall is $83 million in today’s dollars. Who knows when we’re going to get it permitted, funded and actually built?”
The pier was originally built to support a wastewater sewage line that ran from the shore to the ocean. After a treatment plant was opened in 2004, the pier was repurposed to serve as a fishing and pedestrian location.
While the city considers a variety of measures to repair coastal infrastructure, Boles noted that she isn’t sure any option will stand up to a changing climate.
“The ocean is getting more dynamic and stronger and eventually, it will win,” Boles said. “I want to be hopeful, but I can’t promise that all of this is going to last.”
