The yearslong closure continues as the California Coastal Commission and UC San Diego agree to more time to bring the matter to a public hearing.

As the closure of Scripps Coastal Reserve in La Jolla nears its sixth year, the deadline to hear UC San Diego’s application to keep the reserve largely closed to the public is once again extended by 90 days to Feb 10.

That means the plan could be reviewed during the California Coastal Commission’s Feb 4-6 meeting at the latest.

Coastal Commission staff “are working to bring a recommendation on UCSD’s proposal to the Commission at a public hearing as soon as possible,” said Andrew Willis, Coastal Commission enforcement staff counsel. 

Scripps Coastal Reserve, at 9400 La Jolla Farms Road and known to locals as “the knoll” or “the cliffs,” contains about 1,000 acres above Black’s Beach and is part of the University of California’s Natural Reserve System.

The reserve had been open to the public from 8 am to sunset daily; UCSD closed the reserve in 2020 during the pandemic and only reopened it for monthly docent-led tours and weekly maintenance.

The Coastal Commission had been investigating the reserve’s ongoing closure beginning in 2023, as the restriction of public access in the coastal zone needs prior commission approval.

“Reopening the preserve for public access is certainly something that the commission wants to accomplish,” Coastal Commission enforcement counsel Andrew Willis told lajolla.ca in September 2023.

UCSD filed an application with the Coastal Commission in 2024 to maintain the closure, citing safety concerns with the bordering cliffs, erosion prevention and preservation of native plants. 

That application was up against a June 2025 deadline for hearing but the university withdrew the item April 17 from the commission’s May agenda.

The new application deadline was set for Nov 12 and is now extended once again. 

The new extension “allows [Commission] staff to have adequate time to continue to develop our recommendation,” Willis said.