Hermosa Beach News
Council tentatively okays a smaller Beach Bash
by Robb Fulcher
Amid mounting criticism of large summer events, the city council listened to plans for a scaled-back version of the Mervyn’s Beach Bash, which dominates much of the sand with extreme sports and volleyball over a long weekend each June.
In a non-binding “straw vote,” a 3-2 majority of the council agreed to trim the event from four days to three, eliminate live music and all other events held south of the Hermosa Beach Pier, and eliminate the “contour park,” a temporary street course used by extreme skateboarders and cyclists.
The plan offered Tuesday by event promoter James Leitz would preserve the men’s and women’s pro beach volleyball tournaments and the “soul bowl,” a wooden, swimming pool-like structure used by the wheeled athletes.
The cutbacks would trim the time the beach is occupied--including setting up and tearing down the bleachers and other structures before and after the event—from 18 days to about 12 days, Leitz said.
If the plan wins formal approval from the council, net proceeds to city coffers would shrink from the roughly $24,000 taken in last year through various fees.
In the straw poll, councilmen JR Revizcky, Sam Edgerton and Art Yoon said they liked the new plan. Mayor Kathy Dunbabin and Councilman Michael Keegan said they wanted the three-year-old Beach Bash eliminated.
“It’s too successful for Hermosa Beach. You can’t take something this successful and make it unsuccessful,” Dunbabin said.
Keegan cited traffic and parking problems from the beach “all the way up to Prospect” Avenue.
“People can’t get to their homes,” Keegan said.
In a side note, the promoter and city police differed widely on the numbers of people who attended last year’s event. Leitz placed the figure at 80,000 over four days, including 30,000 on Sunday, the only sunny day. Police Lt. Tom Bohlin placed the number at “15,000 on the best day.”
Leitz said his estimate included people pausing to watch as they passed by on the Strand.
Bolin said a typical sunny summer day draws an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 people to the beach.