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Hermosa Beach News for 2007

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Top Stories on This Webpage: Starting April 5, 2007

Read the complete news stories, just below on this webpage:

Letters - Too much alcohol - Hermosa residents, get involved. Sign the “Lissner Referendum.” There's enough liquor downtown. Police, fire, paramedic and lawsuit costs related to alcohol downtown is drinking Hermosa's treasury dry with millions being wasted providing public safety there. Hermosa's small-town quality is being destroyed. Hermosa's beach culture has been lost to bar culture. City money needed for neglected infrastructure, safety and tranquility is being diverted to policing thousands of bar-hoppers for bar operator profits.  A burned-out lower Pier Avenue bar has been given every opportunity and more to accomplish a restoration and return to business without having to provide a single additional parking space or pay a single dollar for parking to the city. Its owner instead now prefers to increase by 2,000 square feet his alcohol-dispensing square footage on top of his present 3,600 square feet.  Hermosa's council has thus thrown all logic to the wind and agreed that more alcohol square footage is OK for lower Pier Avenue. It has thoughtlessly and ignorantly changed the city's law and implicitly agreed to build the owner's additional required parking for this bar expansion on city-owned land. 



Bars have consequences - Our City Council has recently made a series of decisions that will facilitate bar expansion downtown. While we sympathize with the impetus (i.e., the Sharkeez fire), we have to ask, “Is allowing any bar to expand a good thing for Hermosa?”  Bigger bars equal more crime, drunk drivers, litter and burdened police. Bars have consequences on the community. If we want those consequences to be winning “Best Bar Town” every year, then our City Council is succeeding.  It recently passed an ordinance allowing expanding downtown businesses to pay fees in lieu of providing additional parking. This ordinance not only facilitates expansion of Sharkeez, it clears the way for any bar to expand in the future.  Is this favoritism or bad planning? How are establishments with bouncers, full bars and open until 2 a.m. being classified as “restaurants” and then being allowed to pay their way out of parking?  Jim Lissner is circulating a petition to overturn this ordinance. We urge voters to sign it and send a message to our City Council that we're not OK with the downtown bar situation. If you have not received his mailer, contact Lissner at jim@vivahermosa.com. Signatures are needed by April 9.

 

Supporting the referendum - Last week, Sharkeez's Ron Newman wrote, “Do not sign the referendum...” He also wrote, “Property owners on the plaza have the right to rebuild their building...” Newman does have the right to rebuild the one-story bar he had. But he doesn't automatically have the right to add a second story for use as more bar.  Newman said I should not interfere with the actions of our elected officials. Three weeks ago, four councilmen gave him and anyone else on the plaza who wishes to do so permission to build a second story. Now that they see the referendum being circulated, those elected officials seem to be realizing their mistake. At their meeting last week, they suddenly resurrected an idea rejected by the council 10 years ago and voted to look into creating a specific plan for the downtown. The Daily Breeze on March 29 quoted Councilman J.R. Reviczky as saying about the downtown, “The end result was certainly not my vision of what would happen.”  Frankly, for the council, the horse is gone and the barn door is still open. It has no legal way to take back its March 13 action that will allow Sharkeez and other plaza bars to double up. But the people have a way - a referendum. If you live in Hermosa, you should have received a referendum petition in your mailbox a few days ago. If you didn't, you can download one from www.vivahermosa.com/  We have one week. 

 

Compromised by contributions - In a recent letter, Ron Newman, owner of Sharkeez's, stated that he felt that the city of Hermosa Beach would be best served by allowing the City Council to “do its elected job” in deciding whether or not the proposed expansion of Sharkeez is warranted. This idea is in the best interest of all concerned provided any and all council members recuse themselves if they have a conflict of interest or have received campaign contributions from Newman. While all of us can appreciate the need to be active in our local city politics, we need to be careful that the thoughts, processes and actions of its elected officials are not compromised by politics but rather act in the best interests of the city and its citizens.
 

 

HB Zoning change hints at new facilities - Officially speaking, there's nothing in the works for a new high-priced facility like the one that houses both of Manhattan Beach's Police and Fire Departments. Nor are there any plans to construct a new parking structure on land directly adjacent to City Hall. But though you'd never know it from talking to local officials, a proposal aired at last week's meeting of the Planning Commission appears to be laying the groundwork for the city to move in precisely that direction.  The proposal, dubbed a “special study” by Community Development Director Sol Blumenfeld, calls for the city to rezone four of its properties - the Civic Center complex, the City Yard, the Community Services building and the Community Center. With the exception of the City Yard, which is currently categorized in the “Light Manufacturing Zone,” each of these properties is designated “Open Space.”  Under current zoning requirements, “open space” properties live up to their name by including strict restrictions upon structural improvements. For example, an OS-zoned property may only have a maximum of 10 percent of its land used for parking. Any buildings are not allowed to exceed 25 feet and their footprint may only take up 10 percent of the particular OS-zoned lot. 

Letters - Lax parking requirements -  Hermosa Beach is digging a deeper downtown parking deficiency hole with the Planning Commission's rubber stamp of a 30-plus-foot-tall, four-level, flat-roofed, 35-unit commercial-condominium project at 15th and Hermosa Avenue.  Among a litany of concerns is the city's day/night shared parking calculation requiring less than one parking space on site per condo. Two condos are restaurants; one is 3,000 square feet, the other 1,500 square feet. Thus 35 condo owners, two being the restaurant condo owners, will have less than one parking space each. Two other projects have an intensified-building-usage shared parking concept; however, those are each under single ownership and better parked in the first place.  This project, with 35 independent owners crammed in, has no practical opportunity for 35 shared parking plans. The developer and city are burying their heads in the sand rather than facing reality that this project lacks sensible parking. 

 

Letters - Hidden agenda? At the Hermosa Beach council meeting Nov. 28, Sam Edgerton talked so long against going back to four lanes on Pier Avenue that councilmen put aside the will of the people.  The restriping will be done after a car count on two lanes; then a month later, a car count on four lanes.  The people living on Loma, Eighth and Monterey have been heavily impacted by the traffic. I'm sure other streets have been impacted as well.  In my opinion, the hidden agenda for Pier Avenue is two lanes for traffic, enlarge the sidewalks for tables and chairs so bar business can be outside as well as in, extend the Tenderloin District as close to Pacific Coast Highway as possible.  The future for the people of Hermosa Beach is very bleak. 
 

Pier Avenue striping project - Though the council decided to return Pier Avenue to a four-lane road in October by a 4-1 vote, six residents appeared Tuesday night to urge the council not to do so.  “With a committee coming up it doesn't make too much sense to spend money to go back to four lanes,” said Larry Peha.  Local resident Shirley Cassell wasn't buying it. “The people on Monterey and Eighth Street have been waiting for seven weeks,” said Cassell. “No more fooling around because somebody up here is trying to get this thing carried forward and forward and forward.”  Councilman Kit Bobko agreed. “I don't think we can go back and ‘reneg' on the vote that was taken. Let's get this done.” 

 

Club 705 - A public hearing to consider revocation or modification of the conditional use permit for Club 705 was continued until the Planning Commission's next meeting in December.  The proprietors of the business appeared briefly at the onset of Tuesday's meeting but left shortly thereafter once it became clear that the matter was continued.  Local officials blamed proper notification as the reason behind the delay. A placard that is required to be posted on the premises for a certain period of time prior to the public hearing was not done so until this week, putting the city on questionable legal grounds had the owners decided to challenge the matter in court.  

 

HB City Council wrap - Neighborhood brawl - Local resident Eric Conrad addressed the council about an incident that occurred near his house at the intersection of Eighth Street and Ardmore Avenue. According to Conrad, a crowd of approximately 20 people chased an individual down his street sometime last week, engaging in a physical altercation. After he was “beat unconscious,” the crowd fled after being alerted to the presence of police officers. The victim was allegedly driven away by acquaintances while still unconscious.  Police Chief Greg Savelli addressed residents' concerns. He stated that the department's response time was approximately two minutes and 20 seconds. According to Savelli, the incident arose from a neighborhood party. “My plan is to talk to that homeowner,” said Savelli.

 

Residents want Pier Avenue back to four lanes - Local residents appeared en masse last Wednesday night to deliver a clear message to the city about the Pier Avenue Striping Project - return it to the way it was.  Bowing to community pressure, the Public Works Commission voted unanimously to end the test along upper Pier Avenue and return the street to its original condition, excluding a stop sign at the intersection of Bard Street and Pier Avenue.  As with all recommendations from city commissions, the City Council will have the final say in the matter. The council is expected to consider the striping project at one of its two meetings in October.  In addition, the council will be asked to decide upon a body known as the “Pier Avenue Enhancement Committee,” an ad hoc committee charged with overseeing the recommendations found in a 1994 study known as the Downtown Implementation Plan.   The study divided the city's business district into three categories: Lower Pier, Hermosa and Upper Pier. It listed two goals for Upper Pier: To create a comfortable shopping environment for the community and visitors; and to ensure that there is a design link between Upper and Lower Pier so both areas work together and enhance the character of downtown. 

 

Letters - Changes harmed other neighborhoods - The question should not be whether we like the changes to Pier Avenue or not, it's more about what the test has done to our neighborhoods. One cannot deal with the proposed Pier Avenue changes separately without including the changes the proposal makes to Eighth Street and others. They are reflecting the test more than Pier Avenue. It has been awful, dangerous and unacceptable. Also the worst times are in the morning and evening commute times, and on warm weekends when a lot of beachgoers and other walkers are trying to fight their way down and up Eighth Street with all the extra heavy car and truck traffic on this street. Guaranteed, it will be a serious accident on this street that will really open people's eyes on Eighth Street between Valley and PCH.

 

View the CBS-TV Channel 2 news story on the Pier Plaza Assaults . . . 

Women attacked in 3 incidents near Pier Plaza in Hermosa Beach - Police fear two late-night incidents in the vicinity of bars are the work of one man, who may have also committed a 2004 assault in the same area.  All three women were walking alone.  Police in Hermosa Beach issued a warning Thursday for women to avoid walking alone late at night from Pier Plaza bars following two attacks that might be related to a brutal assault last year.  Investigators speculate that the man -- dubbed the "Late Night Attacker" -- was attempting to rape his victim Sunday when he grabbed her as she walked on Monterey Avenue in the south end of the city.  "We don't know what the motivation for the attacks is," Sgt. Paul Wolcott said. "They haven't actually been completed but ... the intent of the attacker was for sexually assaulting the victim."



The Beach Reporter – April 5, 2007

Hermosa Beach - Letters to the Editor

Too much alcohol

Hermosa residents, get involved. Sign the “Lissner Referendum.” There's enough liquor downtown. Police, fire, paramedic and lawsuit costs related to alcohol downtown is drinking Hermosa's treasury dry with millions being wasted providing public safety there. Hermosa's small-town quality is being destroyed. Hermosa's beach culture has been lost to bar culture. City money needed for neglected infrastructure, safety and tranquility is being diverted to policing thousands of bar-hoppers for bar operator profits.

A burned-out lower Pier Avenue bar has been given every opportunity and more to accomplish a restoration and return to business without having to provide a single additional parking space or pay a single dollar for parking to the city. Its owner instead now prefers to increase by 2,000 square feet his alcohol-dispensing square footage on top of his present 3,600 square feet.

Hermosa's council has thus thrown all logic to the wind and agreed that more alcohol square footage is OK for lower Pier Avenue. It has thoughtlessly and ignorantly changed the city's law and implicitly agreed to build the owner's additional required parking for this bar expansion on city-owned land.

Residents and businesses in town know well that there is already too much alcohol concentrated downtown. Fill out and return the referendum form you received by mail. You will be giving the City Council the moral fortitude it needs to break the insidious grip alcohol businesses evidently have over them. Do this immediately as time is extremely short for this referendum's success.

Howard Longacre, Hermosa Beach



Supporting the referendum

Last week, Sharkeez's Ron Newman wrote, “Do not sign the referendum...” He also wrote, “Property owners on the plaza have the right to rebuild their building...” Newman does have the right to rebuild the one-story bar he had. But he doesn't automatically have the right to add a second story for use as more bar.

Newman said I should not interfere with the actions of our elected officials. Three weeks ago, four councilmen gave him and anyone else on the plaza who wishes to do so permission to build a second story. Now that they see the referendum being circulated, those elected officials seem to be realizing their mistake. At their meeting last week, they suddenly resurrected an idea rejected by the council 10 years ago and voted to look into creating a specific plan for the downtown. The Daily Breeze on March 29 quoted Councilman J.R. Reviczky as saying about the downtown, “The end result was certainly not my vision of what would happen.”

Frankly, for the council, the horse is gone and the barn door is still open. It has no legal way to take back its March 13 action that will allow Sharkeez and other plaza bars to double up. But the people have a way - a referendum. If you live in Hermosa, you should have received a referendum petition in your mailbox a few days ago. If you didn't, you can download one from www.vivahermosa.com/  We have one week.

Jim Lissner, Hermosa Beach



Bars have consequences

Our City Council has recently made a series of decisions that will facilitate bar expansion downtown. While we sympathize with the impetus (i.e., the Sharkeez fire), we have to ask, “Is allowing any bar to expand a good thing for Hermosa?”

Bigger bars equal more crime, drunk drivers, litter and burdened police. Bars have consequences on the community. If we want those consequences to be winning “Best Bar Town” every year, then our City Council is succeeding.

It recently passed an ordinance allowing expanding downtown businesses to pay fees in lieu of providing additional parking. This ordinance not only facilitates expansion of Sharkeez, it clears the way for any bar to expand in the future.

Is this favoritism or bad planning? How are establishments with bouncers, full bars and open until 2 a.m. being classified as “restaurants” and then being allowed to pay their way out of parking?

Jim Lissner is circulating a petition to overturn this ordinance. We urge voters to sign it and send a message to our City Council that we're not OK with the downtown bar situation. If you have not received his mailer, contact Lissner at jim@vivahermosa.com. Signatures are needed by April 9.

Cormac and Marianne Wibberley, Hermosa Beach

 

Provide meetings on Internet

I support Councilman J.R. Reviczky's idea of providing City Council meetings live on the Internet.

Because meetings would become easier to watch (and re-watch), solutions like this encourage participation and help to make government business more transparent.

That is why I call upon the council to take it even further by implementing additional web-based solutions that enhance communications between the city and its residents.

We only need to look at nearby cities for examples. In Torrance, council meetings are broadcast live online and immediately afterward, the entire meeting is made available to watch again at any time. Even better, when watching an archived meeting, residents can go directly to the agenda item of their choice. No fast-forwarding required.

Long Beach goes a step further by also offering residents the opportunity to subscribe to receive an e-mail notification on more than 80 city topics of their choosing. Imagine getting an e-mail letting you know the city is about to discuss a topic that's important to you.

The technology is certainly there, and while we may not need 80 topics in Hermosa Beach, residents deserve to have ample opportunity to be active in their city government.

Michael DiVirgilio, Chairman, Public Works Commission, Hermosa Beach



Compromised by contributions

In a recent letter, Ron Newman, owner of Sharkeez's, stated that he felt that the city of Hermosa Beach would be best served by allowing the City Council to “do its elected job” in deciding whether or not the proposed expansion of Sharkeez is warranted. This idea is in the best interest of all concerned provided any and all council members recuse themselves if they have a conflict of interest or have received campaign contributions from Newman. While all of us can appreciate the need to be active in our local city politics, we need to be careful that the thoughts, processes and actions of its elected officials are not compromised by politics but rather act in the best interests of the city and its citizens.

Gary Doane, Hermosa Beach

 


The Beach Reporter – December 14, 2006

Hermosa Beach News

Zoning change hints at new facilities

Officially speaking, there's nothing in the works for a new high-priced facility like the one that houses both of Manhattan Beach's Police and Fire Departments. Nor are there any plans to construct a new parking structure on land directly adjacent to City Hall. But though you'd never know it from talking to local officials, a proposal aired at last week's meeting of the Planning Commission appears to be laying the groundwork for the city to move in precisely that direction.

The proposal, dubbed a “special study” by Community Development Director Sol Blumenfeld, calls for the city to rezone four of its properties - the Civic Center complex, the City Yard, the Community Services building and the Community Center. With the exception of the City Yard, which is currently categorized in the “Light Manufacturing Zone,” each of these properties is designated “Open Space.”

Under current zoning requirements, “open space” properties live up to their name by including strict restrictions upon structural improvements. For example, an OS-zoned property may only have a maximum of 10 percent of its land used for parking. Any buildings are not allowed to exceed 25 feet and their footprint may only take up 10 percent of the particular OS-zoned lot.

In the case of the city's properties, such requirements make future additions or upgrades virtually impossible. It is for this reason that the city appears to no longer be satisfied with current restrictions and is thus attempting to alter the status quo.

According to a staff report presented to the commission last Wednesday, the properties in question would either be rezoned to a new more flexible designation known as “Public Facilities,” or kept in their respective categories and placed in a special “Public Facilities” overlay in the city's General Plan.

“This just simply allows the city to use public property and institutional buildings that are located on public property to make improvements,” said Blumenfeld. “At this point, there is this anomaly in the zoning ordinance, the general plan, that really prevents the city from moving forward with plans.”

Well, sort of. Plans depicting the location of two new buildings to be built at the City Yard were included in Blumenfeld's staff report. No one on the commission questioned why plans could be drawn up for properties zoned “Light Manufacturing,” but not for those designated “Open Space.”

By that late hour, opposition to Blumenfeld's proposal was nonexistent among the commissioners, who urged the Planning Department to move full-steam ahead.

“I'm all in favor of it,” said Commissioner Ron Pizer. “I think it's a good idea.”

Pizer reiterated his support in a conversation by phone several days after the meeting.

“Maybe there's a conflict between the general plan and our zoning,” said Pizer. “What they're trying to do is to have a plan for City Hall, for that complex. They should have a plan.”

He added that any future development of the Civic Center is at least several years away and contingent upon the city's relationship with the current occupant of the lot at 552 11th Place, a public storage facility.

“It's five years away before anything could happen,” said Pizer. “I think there's several years before that land is available (for use).”

But if the public storage facility is to remain as a tenant for the next few years, why then are local officials including the three OS-zoned properties in the study with the City Yard, which is scheduled for improvements right away?

“We just have the land,” said City Manager Steve Burrell. “The City Yard Š is moving forward, we just kind of do them all at once.”

That is precisely the problem for some residents. Former councilman Gary Brutsch served at a time when many sites within the city were designated as “Open Space.” He believes the city should not consider rezoning its properties unless it has a clear idea of what it wants to do.

“It was the purpose of preceding councils to establish Open Space zones (because) it allows greater quality of life,” said Brutsch. “I'm not sure I would support anything that moves toward greater density.”

He also questioned the assumption that the city's need for parking, touted by many officials, should trump the city's need for open space.

“The city has had great opportunity to purchase land to build parking structures. Now because municipal government says ‘we've defined a need,' we're going to make the city more dense because of it?” said Brutsch. “I think that's flawed ... Let's not make the town more dense because we need more parking. I think we have to look at rules, find out why they were established and follow those rules.”

Brutsch is not alone in his critique. Local activist Jim Lissner sat through hours of testimony and deliberations before rising to address the commission last Wednesday night to oppose the study.

“I think we maybe have the cart before the horse here a little bit,” said Lissner. “I don't see the citizenry behind this project. So why are we fiddling with the zoning if we don't even have a bona fide project?”

With no one else present to support him, the commission found little merit with Lissner's argument and voted unanimously to proceed with the proposed study. The matter will return for the commission's consideration at its next meeting Jan. 16.

 


The Beach Reporter – December 7, 2006

Hermosa Beach News

We Get Letters

Lax parking requirements

Hermosa Beach is digging a deeper downtown parking deficiency hole with the Planning Commission's rubber stamp of a 30-plus-foot-tall, four-level, flat-roofed, 35-unit commercial-condominium project at 15th and Hermosa Avenue.

Among a litany of concerns is the city's day/night shared parking calculation requiring less than one parking space on site per condo. Two condos are restaurants; one is 3,000 square feet, the other 1,500 square feet. Thus 35 condo owners, two being the restaurant condo owners, will have less than one parking space each. Two other projects have an intensified-building-usage shared parking concept; however, those are each under single ownership and better parked in the first place.

This project, with 35 independent owners crammed in, has no practical opportunity for 35 shared parking plans. The developer and city are burying their heads in the sand rather than facing reality that this project lacks sensible parking.

The city acting as prostitute is extorting from the developer $200,000 for seven nonexistent parking places it will never supply given the shortage of parking waiting for a years-away parking garage. The developer is foolish to participate in this extortion. The developer would do better to submit a common-sense, less intensive design with realistic parking than being hustled by Hermosa Beach. This city has screwed up many developments and created the city's parking problems with its lax parking requirements. The project will be a pain for everyone already suffering from the severe parking shortages.

Howard Longacre, Hermosa Beach

Political maneuvering

The restriping of Pier Avenue to four lanes was approved Oct. 10 at the Hermosa Beach council meeting. Councilmen J.R. Reviczky and Sam Edgerton now appear to be employing a stalling tactic to extend the time to reinstall the four lanes with high hopes of maintaining the two-lane striping configuration.

Why are these two councilmen defying the overwhelming majority of the Hermosa Beach citizens? Do they have an agenda to keep the said two lanes with hopes of wider sidewalks providing more tables for enlarged cafes?

Sidewalks are for pedestrian use. Don't they recall at the Hermosa Beach Public Works Commission meeting Sept. 20, 25 Hermosa Beach residents spoke? Twenty-three citizens were against the two-lane configuration and only two were in favor of the new configuration.

We do not need an extension of the lower Pier promenade to an upper Pier Avenue with more serious problems. The Hermosa Beach Police and Fire departments prefer the clean four lanes, more expedient emergency calls with faster results. The will of the Hermosa Beach residents has spoken. Put back the four lanes on Pier Avenue now. This is nothing more than a political maneuver for whose benefit?

Roger Eldon Bacon, Hollywood Riviera

Hidden agenda?

At the Hermosa Beach council meeting Nov. 28, Sam Edgerton talked so long against going back to four lanes on Pier Avenue that councilmen put aside the will of the people.

The restriping will be done after a car count on two lanes; then a month later, a car count on four lanes.

The people living on Loma, Eighth and Monterey have been heavily impacted by the traffic. I'm sure other streets have been impacted as well.

In my opinion, the hidden agenda for Pier Avenue is two lanes for traffic, enlarge the sidewalks for tables and chairs so bar business can be outside as well as in, extend the Tenderloin District as close to Pacific Coast Highway as possible.

The future for the people of Hermosa Beach is very bleak.

The continuation of the restriping for another couple of months is all about control and ego.

Edgerton is forcing his one vote to control the city and council, yet the four votes the other members had and used don't seem to count.

Shirley Cassell, Hermosa Beach


Time to move on

It is time to stop draining money from programs in our Hermosa schools to pay for legal defense. I am writing to implore the supporters of the CRSE lawsuit to stop this constant legal action against our schools and to allow our tax dollars to be used for education. Five times the anonymous CRSE supporters have been before the California courts to sue the district, to appeal lawsuits or to request stop-work injunctions. All five times the courts have ruled in favor of the district. The money to pay for this legal defense comes directly out of the general fund of our budget-strapped school district. This money should be financing programs like teacher salaries, music and class-size reduction.

A majority of Hermosans voted for the school construction and it is time to go with the majority opinion. The CRSE has exercised the legal right to dissent - several times. Now, let's go forward with the majority's wishes and start working together to maintain and improve our school system. The construction is under way after a long democratic and public process. Because of CRSE delays, my children will not have the opportunity to use the gymnasium, the new library and media center, or the two new science classrooms, but thousands of future Hermosa students will enjoy these new school facilities.

I hope that the CRSE will drop its Supreme Court appeal. The CRSE is continuing to cost our children money that would be better spent on education.

Teena Moody, Hermosa Beach

 


The Beach Reporter – November 30, 2006

Hermosa Beach News

HB City Council Wrap

Pier Avenue striping project - Though the council decided to return Pier Avenue to a four-lane road in October by a 4-1 vote, six residents appeared Tuesday night to urge the council not to do so.  “With a committee coming up it doesn't make too much sense to spend money to go back to four lanes,” said Larry Peha.

Local resident Shirley Cassell wasn't buying it. “The people on Monterey and Eighth Street have been waiting for seven weeks,” said Cassell. “No more fooling around because somebody up here is trying to get this thing carried forward and forward and forward.”

 

Councilman Kit Bobko agreed. “I don't think we can go back and ‘reneg' on the vote that was taken. Let's get this done.” 

The council agreed and once again voted to return Pier Avenue to a four-lane road, but only after a new traffic count is completed. The council decided on a 30-day time period to conduct the count, after which the street will be returned to its original configuration. The vote was 4-1, with Mayor Sam Edgerton as the lone “nay” vote.

Zoning code amended - After a lengthy public hearing, the council agreed by a 4-1 vote to amend the city's zoning code to allow nonconforming commercial properties to rebuild in the case of a calamity.  Councilman Michael Keegan voted in favor of amending the zoning code but acknowledged it might create an incentive to commit arson. “I support approving this tonight but ... I don't think all the owners know this but there's an incentive to even create arson under some of this, because if you have a nonconforming building that's over the height limit - you can burn it and build it back brand new. That's not the case with the Newmans, theirs is a total different situation.”

Bobko was the lone voice of dissent. “Generally as a rule, nonconforming uses are uses that we want to gradually amortize out of existence,” said Bobko. “I would be in favor of at least breaking this ordinance into two different ordinances, one for commercial and one for residential.”  Councilman J.R. Reviczky echoed Bobko's comments. “I would prefer doing this in pieces, if that's possible, because I have difficulty with the residential portion of this,” said Reviczky. “I want the residential part completely looked at again because I think there's a lot of issues beyond paragraph (a) that need to be reviewed.”

Though Reviczky voted to pass the amendment, he immediately introduced a motion to have the Planning Commission review the ordinance again.  “My motion would be that we send this thing back to the Planning Commission specifically to look at the residential portion of this ordinance and also to study the ramifications of this ordinance affecting more than just the C-2 zone,” said Reviczky. The vote passed by a 3-2 vote, with Edgerton and Tucker dissenting.

Public Works Commission - The council interviewed four applicants for the Public Works Commission before Tuesday's meeting. The council appointed Julian Katz and Brian Koch to the commission. The appointments are four-year terms. Keegan thanked outgoing Commissioner Victor Winnek for his service on the commission. Winnek reapplied but was not chosen.

 


The Beach Reporter – November 23, 2006

Hermosa Beach News

HB Planning wrap

Club 705 - A public hearing to consider revocation or modification of the conditional use permit for Club 705 was continued until the Planning Commission's next meeting in December.

The proprietors of the business appeared briefly at the onset of Tuesday's meeting but left shortly thereafter once it became clear that the matter was continued.

Local officials blamed proper notification as the reason behind the delay. A placard that is required to be posted on the premises for a certain period of time prior to the public hearing was not done so until this week, putting the city on questionable legal grounds had the owners decided to challenge the matter in court.

 

Pier Striping Project - Local residents can expect to see the return of Pier Avenue to a four-lane thoroughfare on either the weekend of Dec. 4 or Dec. 11. Plans are currently being drawn up by the Public Works Department to present to the City Council at its next meeting on Nov. 28, after which the work on the busy street is expected to proceed.

 


The Beach Reporter – November 16, 2006

Hermosa Beach News

HB City Council wrap

Ethics training - Public officials from various bodies packed City Hall before the council's meeting on Tuesday to hear City Attorney Mike Jenkins discuss a new law that went into effect on Jan. 1, AB 1234.  Officials from the City Council, School District and various members of the El Segundo city bureaucracy attended the event, which was required by the new law.

Pier striping project  - Local residents Shirley Cassell and Howard Longacre both inquired about the status of the return of Pier Avenue to a four-lane thoroughfare. The council agreed by a 4-1 vote to return the street back to a four-lane road in October.  “It has been five weeks since council voted to put Pier Avenue back to four lanes,” said Cassell. “I think that tonight this council better direct Mr. Burrell and staff to get somebody down there to restripe that street.”  

Councilman J.R. Reviczky explained the delay, stating, “While this council voted to restripe the Pier, it also directed staff to bring back the plan before they did that, and that's what we're waiting for. The plan will be ready next meeting. Because it can't go back exactly the way it was before, because the parking places before didn't meet Caltrans specification, we needed a new plan.”  A spokesperson with the city clerk's office confirmed that the matter will not return to the council and the changes will be enacted shortly, though she could not confirm when that would be.   

 

Lot merger rehash - The council voted unanimously to have the Planning Commission consider the issue of merging lots within the R-1 zone.  The city agreed to notify any property owners affected by the change, along with those properties within 300 feet of the affected parcels. “I think it deserves a little more discussion,” said Reviczky. “I think these 35 people have a right to know what is going on.” 

“The Planning Commission would provide notice at its January meeting,” said City Manager Steve Burrell. “We would provide notice at the second February meeting. Following the adoption of this policy change, we would then proceed to deal with each of the 35 properties by then providing the specific notices.”  The matter is expected to return to the council in February after consideration by the Planning Commission.

Kiwanis clock - City staff presented the council with two options on the location of a clock donated by the Kiwanis Club. The clock was originally to be mounted on the east side of the pier plaza in conjunction with the creation of a wall, but after several residents objected to the wall the council decided to instead place the clock in another location.  

Earlier this week, local officials placed a mockup of the clock at one of the two places being considered, near the entrance of Loreto Plaza. After several members of the Kiwanis Club appeared to urge that the clock be placed closer to Hermosa Avenue, the council voted by a 3-2 vote to do so. The clock will instead be mounted just inside the bollards on the east end of the plaza.

Cool Cities - Local resident Nikki Tempest urged the council to sign on to the Sierra Club's “Cool Cities” club, a program to assist municipalities become more energy-efficient. “I really encourage everybody to get educated on this,” said Mayor Sam Edgerton. “It's not flipped-out liberal theory or anything like that, it's for real.”

Vending machines - The council agreed with a proposal by the Community Resources director to place six vending machines at various locations within the city. Under the terms of the agreement, the city will receive a lump sum payment of $25,000 from the Coca-Cola Bottling Company and approximately 41 cents per unit sold. A variety of drinks will be sold for $1.50.  All proceeds from the sale of beverages will be placed into the city's centennial account. The agreement is to last for one year, after which time the city will reconsider the matter.

Noble Park light - The council punted on the issue of whether to place a light in Noble Park and instead gave the matter to the Public Works Commission. Councilman Pete Tucker inquired whether two smaller lights could be placed in the park instead of one large one, so that light would not flood the area and bother local residents. The council urged the commission to include any new lights into a larger plan to refurbish the park.

 


The Beach Reporter – November 9, 2006

Letters to the Editor

Thanks for participating

Thank you for being part of a Show of Hands for Hermosa. Everyone involved had fun and was part of a very unique community event. 

When Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Watch was first invited to join in on the planning for this event, we were thrilled with the opportunity to collaborate with a group of creative and inspiring people such as Maureen Ferguson, Laura Raymond, Dick McCurdy, Rick Koenig and Mike Flaherty.  From that very first September opportunity for residents to put their handprints on the grey skate park walls, a magical experience began to blossom into a colorful expression of the people.  

We would not have been able to accomplish such a task without the volunteers and Public Works staff. I would like to thank the Community Resources team, JOL Designs, Tracy Hopkins, Nancy Amato, Al Benson, Janice Brittain, Jeff Smith, Jan Barylski, Michael DiVirgilio, Danay DiVirgilio, Carol Lawson, Jen Sandoval, Susan Blaco, Nancy Nickels, Kit Bobko, Cathy McCurdy, Pat Love, Jennifer Rosenfeld, Jennifer Chew, Mary Goshtigian, Karen Renner, Terry and Fred Bose, Andrienne Slaughter, J.R. Reviczky, Mishell Balzer, Janine Bozeman, Jeff Maxwell, Marsha Halford, Jim Gierlich, Sharon Rosenberger, John Horger, Sue Horger, Claudia Castro, Dave Largent, Terrie Sanchez, Terrill Burnett, Kathy Bergstrom, Kimberlee MacMullan, Bree Hopkins, Bob McEachen, Paul Amarillas, Annie Seawright-Newton, Gloria Vialpando, Christine Hollander, Sally Field, Ray Karimoto, Howard Seeb and Joel Geffen; also the Kiwanis Club of Hermosa Beach and Hermosa Arts Foundation for their support of the project.

Kelly Kovac-Reedy, Hermosa Beach

Questions about expenses

AB 1234, an ethics law signed by Gov. Schwarzenegger in 2005, is designed to reduce personal expense reimbursement abuses by politicians and other government officials. It took effect Jan. 1 and necessitates that Hermosa council members receive two hours of AB 1234 ethics training in 2006. The council members have delayed this almost until the deadline. Several meetings ago attorney-councilman Sam Edgerton even bragged that he didn't need more ethics training, having taken plenty already; however, City Attorney Michael Jenkins admonished him to the contrary.

The councilmen also still receive a $350-per-month car allowance in breach of the purpose of AB 1234. Short of Jenkins finding the councilmen a legal loophole, they apparently will need to return the car-allowance payments received in 2006 and submit actual car expense reports as related directly to their council duties if they desire such reimbursement. Except for fewer payments received by the new councilman, Kit Bobko, each councilman should return about $3,500 to Hermosa's city treasurer.

Incredibly, during the Oct. 24 meeting, the councilman (with Peter Tucker absent) voted without any discussion a 77-percent increase to their compensation. Edgerton coyly voted “No” while knowing full well the increase would pass, yet made no attempt to decline such increase for himself or any financial relation to be seated on council when the increase takes effect. Edgerton then condescendingly predicted this letter calling attention to his disingenuous vote on raising its compensation.

Incidentally, it is the city's money that Hermosa's councilmen remind the people they carefully watch.

Howard Longacre, Hermosa Beach
 

Keep Pier Avenue two lanes

Hermosa Beach needs to retain the new, two-lane restriping of upper Pier Avenue by the Public Works Department. Not only does it slow down the speeding motorists and make it safer for pedestrians, but it adds a more charming downtown/retail atmosphere to the city.

If you look both north (Manhattan Beach) and south (Redondo Beach) of us, you will note that the heart of their downtowns both have two-lane streets. Both towns also have thriving downtowns with a wonderful mix of retail, restaurants and office space.

Traffic counts proved no increase in cars on adjacent streets from the new design, and flow on upper Pier Avenue is not impaired by it.

Let's retain the new format and give it a year or two to prove itself to attract more pedestrians, diners and shoppers by being a more inviting, charming, mellow street. Hermosa has become an international tourist destination and the new format will further promote that.

Unfortunately, the majority of Hermosa residents who liked the new format for upper Pier Avenue didn't voice their support so all that was heard by the City Council and Public Works were a few shrill obstructionists, afraid to improve Hermosa.

Lisa and Robert Arnett, Hermosa Beach

Residential streets were affected

As one of the “tiny, vocal few,” one of the “shrill obstructionists” as Andrew and Leanne Clifton called us, I appeared before the City Council to ask that Pier Avenue go back to four lanes. As a point of information, 10 people are not a “tiny vocal few” considering that we represented a good percentage of the longtime residents of Eighth Street between Ardmore and Pacific Coast Highway. We have been seriously affected by the restriping; the traffic has increased considerably on our section of Eighth Street according to one of the studies that was passed around. Our group appeared at the Public Works meeting so it should have come as no surprise to the Cliftons that we also appeared before the City Council. Pier Avenue may have been enhanced by the restriping but it made our lives more difficult and we have a perfect right to point out that when you change one street, it affects others. Ours is a residential street; Pier Avenue is a commercial street. We believe that the city must find other ways to enhance Pier Avenue - ways that do not adversely affect the neighboring streets.

Joan M. Arias, Hermosa Beach

Change was an improvement

What a pleasure it has been crossing Pier Avenue with my children without fearing for our lives. Thank you.

I hear the City Council is considering changing Pier Avenue back to four lanes based on increased traffic on Eighth Street. Please continue to look at the traffic issues and resident complaints of each street as there are traffic/parking issues all over town but the change to Pier Avenue has been an improvement. Pier Avenue is a dead-end street. One lane in each direction is sufficient. Let's try to respect the pedestrian. Please stay strong; two lanes is a good decision.

Dana Cantelmo, Hermosa Beach

Needs a longer study

I am concerned that the city will make a decision regarding Pier Avenue based on a group of vocal citizens who disagree with the project. Though I understand that not everything can be put to a vote, this project deserves further consideration.

It is time we slow or stop the amount of traffic that can now barrel freely into the center of our small town. In the summer months, Hermosa residents have to put up with the noise and traffic brought on by such events as the two Fiestas, volleyball tournaments and beach traffic. It is time to slow down the pace of the choking car fumes, noise and herds of people.

Manhattan Beach has done just fine with Manhattan Beach Boulevard closing down to two lanes, one in each direction. Hermosa needs to do the same thing. It will bring a much more pedestrian-friendly environment to our city, encouraging foot traffic and more retail businesses instead of the tiring and annoying bar scene.

Give Pier Avenue a chance to become more peaceful and more enjoyable. Give restriping a longer chance to prove itself.

Pim Murphy, Hermosa Beach


Board made a choice

With regard to the building of the gym at Hermosa Valley School, there have been so many letters written, so many opinions shared and so many arrogant responses from Gregory Breen, president of the Hermosa Beach School Board.

I am not a member of CRSE but I am a neighbor of Valley School. The most important fact for me is that the Hermosa Beach School Board chose to build a gym rather than build the much-needed classrooms. It's as simple as that.

Stacy Moulton, Hermosa Beach

Sleeping better at night

How good of Miyo Prassas to take time away from polishing her halo (Letters, Nov. 2) and how good of her to let us know that the reason that the Committee for Responsible School Expansion is continuing to sue the Hermosa School District (notwithstanding its five losses to date) is to preserve the integrity of our initiative process. Gee, and I figured that cause of action was an afterthought since they never brought it up at all in any of our settlement conferences, indeed not at all until they filed suit. I've been pretty selfish in fretting about the $2 million their lawsuit has cost the district, when after all we're looking at pretty important constitutional principles here. I can sleep better at night knowing that the altruistic members of CRSE are looking out for me.

Greg Breen, President, Hermosa Beach School Board

Misleading the public

Last week, Miyo Prassas unequivocally stated here that 59 percent of the $13.6 million in Measure “J” funds will be spent on the gym. Wrong. I would chalk it up as an innocent mistake had I not been subjected to years of misinformation from her and other CRSE members. Instead I can only conclude that it is yet another attempt to mislead the public.

Now for the facts. Although the exact number cannot be calculated because separate bids were not obtained for the gym/ classroom portion of the new building (which will also house a library/media center and two additional classrooms, and have reinforced footings to someday build the additional classrooms that had to be cut due to the delaying tactics of the CRSE and the resultant escalating prices), we do know that the new building will cost about $10.7 million; the gym/classroom constitutes approximately 60 percent of the new building based upon square footage; and as she well knows, since her CRSE tried to force the school to decline this money, $1.5 million of the gym costs are paid by a state grant conditioned on building the gym, not bond proceeds (yes, if successful they would have cost the school yet another $1.5 million). Sixty percent of $10.7 million less $1.5 million (totaling $4.92 million), divided by $13.6 million, yields 36 percent, not 59 percent. She overstated it by about 63 percent. Honest mistake, or another attempt to mislead?

Consider this the next time you read another letter from the CRSE.

Kelly Kinnon, Hermosa Beach

Board did listen, just didn't agree

CRSE's claim the Hermosa School Board did not listen to the surrounding neighbors during the planning process for the new construction at Hermosa Valley School is outrageous. The board bent over backward to hear everyone. Environmental Impact Reports were commissioned, alternate plans were considered, mediations were held. Just because the CRSE did not get its way does not mean its concerns were not considered. To suggest otherwise is insulting to the board members who work hard to improve our schools and to the Hermosa Beach citizens the CRSE is attempting to mislead.

The CRSE members can demonstrate their claim they have the best interest of the school at heart by reimbursing the school for the $140,000 in legal fees we (yes, the taxpayers of Hermosa Beach and their children) have been forced to waste on what four judges have ruled a meritless lawsuit. By taking their case to the California Supreme Court after four consecutive defeats, the CRSE continues to waste the Hermosa Beach taxpayers' money and the Hermosa Beach School Board's time.

Jennifer Alvarado, Hermosa Beach
 

 


The Beach Reporter – October 26, 2006

Hermosa Beach News

HB City Council wrap

Donations - The council acknowledged a donation from local resident and Public Works Commissioner Janice Brittain in the amount of $500. Another donation was received from the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce in the amount of $3,000. The funds were raised at this year's Fiesta Beer Garden. Both donations will be used to pay for the city's centennial celebration.

HBPD electronics purchase - Funds totaling approximately $15,000 were appropriated by the city to pay for a “base station radio unit,” “six remote desk top units,” a “Blackberry communication system” and another Dell computer for the Hermosa Beach Police Department.

 

Slurry seal - The council held off awarding a contract worth approximately $148,000 to Pavement Coatings Company for work that includes crack sealing, slurry sealing, and the replacement of traffic striping on both Aviation Boulevard and Prospect Avenue.  The council's decision was delayed until its meeting on Nov. 14 and was enacted to accommodate the installation of trees along Aviation Boulevard.  “The reason why we want to change this, we want to sequence the work that is going to be done on Aviation with the new trees and so forth, and let this follow it,” said City Manager Steve Burrell.

 

Pay raise - By a 3-1 vote, the council agreed to increase its monthly pay from $300 to $530 a month. Mayor Sam Edgerton was the lone dissenting vote. “I guess I'll get another letter from Howard Longacre for voting no,” said Edgerton. Councilman Peter Tucker, who did not attend Tuesday night's meeting, opposed the pay raise at the council's previous meeting on Oct. 10. The increase becomes effective in November 2007.

Pavilion car wash - The council once again assumed jurisdiction over a decision by the Planning Commission to approve a business within the Hermosa Pavilion. The council, which had previously assumed jurisdiction over the commission's approval of an upscale restaurant, did it again in the case of the Pavilion's car wash. The Planning Commission approved the car wash by a 3-2 vote. “This would be pushed into that meeting so we have all the issues preserved and no doors shut on the issue that relates to the parking plan,” said Edgerton.  The public hearing encompassing both the car wash and the restaurant, which was originally to be heard Dec. 12, was again postponed until sometime next year.

Kiwanis lease - The city agreed to continue leasing the property at 2515 Valley Drive to the Hermosa Kiwanis Club for another 25 years. The agreement calls for the lease to begin Aug. 12, 2006, and end Aug. 11, 2031, “unless earlier terminated as provided herein.” In return for use of the property, the Kiwanis Club agrees to pay the city rent in the amount of $1 per year.

Holiday parking - The council agreed to offer three hours of free parking between Wednesday, Nov. 22, and Monday, Dec. 25. The rule applies only to the silver meters located in the downtown area.

Public Works Commission - In other city business, two seats on the Public Works Commission expire at the end of this month. Interviews, which were originally scheduled to occur before the council's meeting Tuesday, were rescheduled until the council's Nov. 28 meeting.  Four applicants applied for the open positions - Julian Katz, Brian Koch, Sean Krajewski and Victor Winnek. Winnek is currently a member of the commission and is reapplying for his seat. Commissioner Robert Beste did not reapply for his seat.

Vending machines - A potential agreement between the city of Hermosa Beach and the Coca-Cola Bottling Company was placed on the agenda for the council's Nov. 14 meeting. Community Resources Director Lisa Lynn will present the proposal to the council. For more information, see a story that ran in The Beach Reporter Oct. 11, titled “City looks at sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola.”

 


The Beach Reporter – October 12, 2006

Hermosa Beach News

HB City Council wrap

Pay raise - Instead of the 100-percent raise requested by Councilman Michael Keegan, the council agreed to a raise from $300 per month to $530 per month. The vote was 3-2 in favor of the measure, with Edgerton and Tucker dissenting.

“I think this 100-percent raise is way out of order,” said Tucker.

Pier striping project - By a 4-1 vote, the council agreed with a recommendation by the Public Works Commission to end the test along upper Pier Avenue and return the street to its original configuration. Edgerton was the lone voice of dissent.

“Your own agenda doesn't count,” local resident Shirley Cassell said to the council. “You people should never have done this. I don't know what the hell got into you guys.”

Councilman Kit Bobko reiterated his call for a “comprehensive study of the entire Pier Avenue ecosystem.” He advocated the creation of a steering committee to “decide what it is that we want to do.” The committee will include two members from the Public Works and Planning commissions, as well as other members of the community.

According to Public Works Director Rick Morgan's staff report, the city will appropriate not more then $20,000 to return Pier Avenue to its original configuration.

Neighborhood brawl - Local resident Eric Conrad addressed the council about an incident that occurred near his house at the intersection of Eighth Street and Ardmore Avenue. According to Conrad, a crowd of approximately 20 people chased an individual down his street sometime last week, engaging in a physical altercation. After he was “beat unconscious,” the crowd fled after being alerted to the presence of police officers. The victim was allegedly driven away by acquaintances while still unconscious.

Police Chief Greg Savelli addressed residents' concerns. He stated that the department's response time was approximately two minutes and 20 seconds. According to Savelli, the incident arose from a neighborhood party. “My plan is to talk to that homeowner,” said Savelli.

Meistrell tribute - In honor of the recent death of Bill Meistrell, Mayor Sam Edgerton presented a certificate of recognition to the Meistrell family. Local businessman Roger Bacon joined Meistrell's brother Bob to offer some thoughts about the famous waterman during an intermission.

Coke sponsorship agreement - The council pushed a decision on the installation of nine vending machines back to its next meeting Oct. 24. The potential agreement with the Coca-Cola Bottling Company calls for a “donation” of $25,000 to help fund the city's Centennial.

Pier plaza clock - “I just don't understand the wall,” said resident Dallas Yost. The council agreed, deciding to forgo the creation of a wall along the east edge of pier plaza. A clock donated by the Kiwanis Club will instead be placed at the center of the plaza and will be surrounded by benches.

On the issue of a runaway vehicle, the council agreed to consider upgrading the bollards currently in place to prevent an accident similar to the one in Santa Monica. “There is a remote possibility that a vehicle could lose its brakes and cause a problem,” said City Attorney Mike Jenkins.

Long meeting - Tuesday's meeting was the longest council meeting in months, adjourning shortly before 1 a.m. “We need to make it policy that if we go past 12:30 a.m., there is no closed session,” said Edgerton.

 


The Beach Reporter – September 28, 2006

Hermosa Beach News

Residents want Pier Avenue back to four lanes

Local residents appeared en masse last Wednesday night to deliver a clear message to the city about the Pier Avenue Striping Project - return it to the way it was.

Bowing to community pressure, the Public Works Commission voted unanimously to end the test along upper Pier Avenue and return the street to its original condition, excluding a stop sign at the intersection of Bard Street and Pier Avenue.

As with all recommendations from city commissions, the City Council will have the final say in the matter. The council is expected to consider the striping project at one of its two meetings in October.

In addition, the council will be asked to decide upon a body known as the “Pier Avenue Enhancement Committee,” an ad hoc committee charged with overseeing the recommendations found in a 1994 study known as the Downtown Implementation Plan.

 

The study divided the city's business district into three categories: Lower Pier, Hermosa and Upper Pier. It listed two goals for Upper Pier: To create a comfortable shopping environment for the community and visitors; and to ensure that there is a design link between Upper and Lower Pier so both areas work together and enhance the character of downtown.

The plan included nine recommendations, one of which was reducing Pier Avenue from a four- to two-lane road.

In light of this, Morgan used his time to separate the highly unpopular striping project from the other recommendations within the study, perhaps in an attempt to keep the project alive. “Whether we do two lanes or four, we're still going to want to incorporate amenities,” said Morgan. He added that the city has approximately $2 million of Proposition C funds saved to use on upper Pier Avenue. The 1994 proposal estimated the cost of improvements to upper Pier would run approximately $1.5 million.

Some residents, like Eric Bails, issued a fiery denunciation of both the striping project and the city's larger goal of revitalizing upper Pier Avenue. He sarcastically remarked that altering Pier Avenue's configuration during the summer would not solve the street's drainage problem, drawing chuckles from the crowd. He concluded by stating, “In sum, we don't know the cost, we don't know the benefits and we don't know why the city is doing this. Fix the drainage and enforce the traffic laws!”

But the award for the evening's most unruly speaker went to Redondo Beach Public Works Commissioner Dean Francois. Francois was more than two hours late, appearing shortly before 10 p.m. after most of the crowd had left and the commission was busy deliberating the issue. Chairman Victor Winnek refused Francois' request to speak, advising him that the time for comments on the striping project was over. Francois exploded.

“This is a violation of the Brown Act!” said Francois.

“Please sit down,” said Winnek. “You're out of order.”

“I'm not out of order!” replied Francois.

“You're late,” said Commissioner Dan Marinelli.

After sitting down for a few minutes, Francois returned to the dais and continued his tirade.

“I'm Dean Francois! You are in violation of the Brown Act,” he yelled.

Winnek pointed out that public comments would be taken just before the meeting adjourned, hinting that Francois should wait until then to speak. But Francois left shortly thereafter.

 


The Beach Reporter – October 5, 2006

Letters to the Editor

Changes harmed other neighborhoods

The question should not be whether we like the changes to Pier Avenue or not, it's more about what the test has done to our neighborhoods. One cannot deal with the proposed Pier Avenue changes separately without including the changes the proposal makes to Eighth Street and others. They are reflecting the test more than Pier Avenue. It has been awful, dangerous and unacceptable. Also the worst times are in the morning and evening commute times, and on warm weekends when a lot of beachgoers and other walkers are trying to fight their way down and up Eighth Street with all the extra heavy car and truck traffic on this street. Guaranteed, it will be a serious accident on this street that will really open people's eyes on Eighth Street between Valley and PCH.

Steve Pinard, Hermosa Beach

Contributing to congestion

Regardless of how many lanes Pier Avenue ends up with, the city should be proactive to help ease traffic congestion. Twice last week, in high traffic areas, I observed parking enforcement blocking lanes of traffic while issuing street-sweeping citations.

First, on the south side of Gould, a single car sat on street-sweeping day. Rather than park his chariot in front of or behind the offending car, our city official chose to park in the eastbound lane next to the violating vehicle. This caused all of us leaving Hermosa via Gould to attempt to pass his vehicle by crossing into the opposing lane. We were further hindered by the fact that we were facing uphill, and could not see traffic approaching over the crest of the hill. It was a very unsafe situation, and caused unneeded congestion.

Last Thursday, I was southbound on Monterey Avenue, just past Eighth Street, when parking enforcement blocked the northbound side of the road. At that time, a person who was moving their offending vehicle at the last minute performed a three-point U-turn and parallel parked just opposite the parking enforcement cart. This caused both directions of Monterey to be blocked, and southbound lanes backed up past the intersection at Eighth Street.

In both cases, there were ample spaces in front of and behind the offending cars. In both cases, parking enforcement, either by policy or personal decision, blocked traffic. In both cases, I was avoiding Pier Avenue due to recent lane revisions.

Glenn Forbes, Hermosa Beach

Likes the two-lane configuration

Changing four-lane streets to two-lane plus bicycle lanes worked on The Esplanade and Grant. It has improved safety, the environment, slowed drivers and encouraged alternative transportation modes such as cycling.

While I believe that two lanes with bike lanes can work on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach, the council acted too swiftly on this two-lane test without a complete plan in place and insufficient public comment. Staff gave a City Council presentation without it being on the agenda.

The next day, the Public Works Commission was asked to take public comment. Public Works felt obligated to recommend ending the test and bringing the street back to four lanes in reaction to many who complained of taking longer to drive a short distance, or complained of increased traffic diverted to other streets. However, the meeting was not a public hearing and was agendized to discuss public input. It ignored the fact that it is probably safer with two lanes. The commission could not deal with safety or the diversion of traffic problems. There were incomplete data and traffic studies to compare to pre-existing conditions.

I caution the wisdom of returning to four lanes, since it is safer with two lanes. The city should beware of potential liability in changing this back.

In making changes to our streets, we must be able to answer yes to the following question: Have we done what we can to improve safety, the environment, and encourage pedestrian/bicycle and alternative transportation modes?

Dean Francois, Redondo Beach

Keep on trying

Santa Barbara is the most beautiful city in the western half of the United States. The reason it is so beautiful is that the citizens and their representatives work to make it better. They don't work toward higher population or wider streets. They work to make their city better.

State Street in Santa Barbara is one of the wonders of our country because car traffic has been whittled down to one narrow lane in each direction, and what used to be asphalt is now people-friendly and beautifully landscaped sidewalk. The locals love it and the businesses absolutely thrive.

The Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica is being studied by city planners far and wide. The people who live and work in Santa Monica absolutely love it. The reason it is so wonderful is that there are no cars there.

If the good people who are in charge of envisioning the future of Hermosa Beach didn't get the striping just right on Pier Avenue this time, that's OK. They are trying, and with our help they will succeed. Do not listen to people who are upset because the last mile of their commute takes them an extra 90 seconds now. They're upset about their commute and that is their problem.

On behalf of myself and my family, I would like to thank the people of vision in Hermosa Beach and ask everyone else to offer suggestions and encouragement, and to ignore those who don't.

Keith Hemstreet, Hermosa Beach

Council right to not extend hours

The Hermosa Beach City Council is to be commended for refusing to extend the operating hours for Mediterraneo restaurant to 2 a.m. Too often, restaurants on the Pier Avenue plaza convert to bars and nightclubs when their operating hours are extended to 2 a.m. We have enough bars and nightclubs on the plaza and the surrounding area.

I also find it disingenuous that the owner of Mediterraneo, Tommy Short, should say that, “We were very, very touched and inspired by the heavy turnout by the people to honor our restaurant and managers and staff.” Short is the same person who “honored” his employees several years ago by abruptly closing Brewski's, the predecessor to Mediterraneo, without any notice. One wonders if he could be trusted to not convert his restaurant to a nightclub/bar if he had longer operating hours.

Fred Huebscher, Hermosa Beach

Government is dysfunctional

In an attempt to garner $800,000 to pad their bloated bureaucracy, Hermosa officials attempt to pass off their tortured interpretation of city code as justification for a ransom payment for rebuilding a fire-ravaged business. Meanwhile, the hypocrisy of the city officials is laid bare by the blatant illegal reduction in parking just across the street. Indeed, the city has all but financed the reconstruction of a change of use from what was an annex to the Sea Sprite Motel, complete with off-street parking, to a summer rental apartment absent any parking.

City Code Section 17.044.040 clearly states that additional parking requirements generally apply to a change of use. So while Sharkeez sits as an ugly burned-out hulk in the middle of the city's prominent business district, the return of the business exactly as it was is trumped by the greed and malfeasance by those who pretend to enforce the law, both in respect to parking requirements and subsequent disputes arising out of their actions. The eyesore on the promenade serves testament to a totally dysfunctional city government.

Robert Benz, Hermosa Beach

 

Against vending machines in parks

Hermosa Beach is accepting donations for the city's centennial in 2007. Most are given without strings attached. Others require a contract to be approved by the City Council for a one-time sponsorship deal such as Kraft Foods' largest beach blanket event.

A particularly disturbing “donation” will be considered by the council Tuesday, Oct. 10, at 7:10 p.m., the Coca-Cola sponsorship contract. The donation requires a contract permitting commercial vending machines to be placed in the city's parks that will dispense $1.50 and $2 canned drinks.

Once these vending machines are installed in the parks, the city's addiction to the token revenue will make them very difficult to be eliminated as were the advertising bus benches 18 years ago and their numbers will likely grow year by year.

This donation is not a revenue-raising method in the people's best interest. The cash revenue will come from the city's own children and their parents visiting the city parks or cash from children walking to and from school, which may be meant for their lunch or other, cash spent for overpriced sodas of dubious value.

Vending machines in the parks will add a policing burden. They're a target for graffiti, break-ins, other problems and an attractive nuisance to be avoided like the plague.

Note the meeting date and notify your elected council members that this is an idea even more far-fetched than the Pier Avenue lanes reduction, which coincidentally will also be discussed during the Oct. 10 council meeting.

Howard Longacre, Hermosa Beach


Against PCH restaurant

Our City Council will conduct a public hearing to evaluate the feasibility of a land-use application at 1601 Pacific Coast Highway. The applicant proposes an 8,000-square-foot mega restaurant-bar-liquor store operation in close proximity to residential neighborhoods and school.

This land use will have an occupant capacity estimated to range between 500 and 600 persons. Nuisance conditions will become a chronic problem due to a parking plan that inadequately services the building. In application, when parking strategies and speculative projections fail, irreversible traffic and parking impacts develop. The high-impact restaurant-bar can only sustain itself from attracting a daily influx from outside our community. This generates high traffic volumes and heavy parking demands.

The only alternative is to deny this land-use designation rejecting the high-impact usage in favor of low-impact. Revise and simplify the parking plan to accommodate 100 percent self-parking.

Residents safeguard neighborhood from radiating impact. The public hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 10, in City Council chambers on Valley Drive.

Patty Egerer, Hermosa Beach

 

 


The Beach Reporter – September 28, 2006

Hermosa Beach

Letters to the Editor

Back to four lanes

As the Public Works Commission is recommending by unanimous vote after several hours of public testimony, the four lanes should be put back on Pier Avenue immediately. The R/UDAT study is as outdated for use as a planning tool as I am an outdated elected official, having been on the City Council at that time. Was this just in preparation for widening the sidewalks for outdoor dining, therefore allowing further extension of the pier plaza party scene? Certain restaurants on upper Pier Avenue are already being allowed to block the sidewalks with dining tables, forcing pedestrians into the streets. In my opinion, sidewalks should be for use by pedestrians, baby strollers and wheelchairs; not dining tables and outdoor displays of merchandise. The lanes do not need to be cut down to two to make the much-needed storm drain improvements and crosswalk safety enhancements.

 

Kathleen L. Midstokke, Hermosa Beach

 

A tree for Creighton

Former Hermosa Beach mayor, council member and lifetime resident Roger Creighton departed life on his own terms. He saw the town as a child through to being a senior as it changed from 1938 to 2006.

Most everyone who had any conversings with Creighton came to deal with his in-your-face demeanor. It was not always initially clear whether he was on your side on an issue or not but eventually you figured it out.

You don't need to look far in Hermosa Beach to see the results of his many decades of civic involvement, be it the reduction in residential density resulting in dilapidated apartment buildings being recycled into fewer single family residences, the creation of South Park where condos might otherwise have been built, the keeping of large-scale hotels from the downtown, the greenbelt purchase from the railroad for what now seems like a bargain and seeing it made all usable and green, or ridding the town of advertising bus benches, and on and on. Creighton was unquestionably very unique and he never profited a nickel other than from that which flows from a city that maintains some semblance of a quality of life.

Those who had a connection with Creighton's many efforts and others are reminded they may make a contribution toward a tree to be planted in the city, “Roger's Tree,” in care of the law office of Angelo and DiMonda, 1721 N. Sepulveda, Manhattan Beach 90266.

Howard Longacre, Hermosa Beach

Won't support squandering money

The California state court failed to protect taxpayers with its recent ruling regarding Proposition 39. Once again, the court found the School Board to be sacrosanct in its dealings with the community.

The Hermosa Beach School Board failed to adhere to city ordinances such as open space, height limits or parking space requirements. It chose to ignore California state educational recommendations of playground open space per student. It ignored state bond disclosure requirements, failing to make public a joint-use agreement with the Beach Cities Health District. It failed to require the Beach Cities Health District fund 25 percent of the gym as a joint-use partner in order to be eligible for $1.5 million of state matching funds. It was not required to specify a budget in dollar amounts or percentages of bond money for items listed in Measure “J” or “A.” It was not required to fund all of the items listed on the bond measure, thereby baiting the public with a lovely wish list, but switching priorities and using the pretext of items being not feasible after bond passage.

School boards operate with little or no outside controls over policy and bond funds, and can choose to satisfy only a small special-interest group rather than operating for the greater good of the school community. Without strict controls by the state, taxpayers may be less willing to support a school district in which a school board is allowed to consistently squander away public money.

Julieane Suworski, Hermosa Beach

 

 


The Beach Reporter – September 21, 2006

Hermosa Beach News

Early Pier Ave. presentation rankles some residents

It was called a “sales pitch,” an “informational thing” and a “selling mechanism.” Whatever it was, a presentation on Upper Pier Avenue by Public Works Director Rick Morgan at Tuesday night's Planning Commission meeting did not go unnoticed, drawing the objection of several residents who did not appreciate the gesture.

Morgan's appearance drew attention primarily because city officials invited residents (prior to that time) to the Sept. 20 (the night after Tuesday's presentation) Public Works Commission meeting to receive testimony about the Pier Avenue Striping Project. But when the agenda for this week's Planning Commission meeting was posted on the city's Web site earlier this month, it also included an item under “Oral/Written Communications” that addressed the issue. The item consisted of a staff report with documents addressed to the “Honorable Chairman and Members of the Public Works Commission” and that were dated for the meeting on Sept. 20.

Commissioner Sam Perotti took issue with the implication that the presentation was a sales pitch. “I think this presentation is merely some information for the commission, and it's no different than if we had a presentation by an energy consultant who wanted to discuss ways to make homes more energy-efficient.” He added, “I think people are making a lot more to this than it deserves ... It's not a sales pitch. It's informational.” Community Development Director Sol Blumenfeld also addressed the issue, describing the presentation as a “prelude to the actual hearing tomorrow.”

When Morgan finally began, he prefaced his remarks by stating, “I have come primarily for information to provide to the commission and also to receive any comments the commission may have that they'd want to convey (at) the following public meeting.” He added, “I do apologize if folks got confused as to which meeting to come.” Then, in what he termed as “practice” for the meeting on Sept. 20, Morgan provided examples of streets from other cities like Huntington Beach, Seal Beach and San Clemente.

He concluded by stating, “The proposal I'm going to take to the council after the Public Works Commission (Wednesday) night is that the subcommittee from the Planning Commission participate with the subcommittee from the Public Works Commission and the subcommittee from the council to guide this thing through.” Two members of the Public Works Commission's subcommittee, Daniel Marinelli and Janice Brittain, attended the meeting Tuesday night to observe the presentation.

Prior to the meeting on Sept. 19, City Manager Steve Burrell denied the claims of several residents that the item was placed on the Planning Commission's agenda to pre-empt or dilute opposition to the public meeting the following day. “Rick is going to invite them (the Planning Commissioners) to the meeting,” said Burrell. “The Planning Commission will not be making any recommendations.”

Following Morgan's remarks, four people rose to address the Planning Commission. “I'm just upset that this was put on this meeting other than down on the staff items as a ... it's been a presentation, it's been a sales pitch and it shouldn't have been,” said local resident Howard Longacre. “The people who are coming tomorrow deserve to hear this first.”

 


The Easy Reader – September 14, 2006

Letters to the Editor

 You can’t change Pier’s stripes

Dear ER:

During Hermosa’s birth, city traffic flow planners designated Santa Fe Ave (Pier Ave.) as a primary traffic artery. Primary streets are necessary to handle higher volumes of present and future vehicular travel.

The restriping of Pier Ave. and reduction of its intended traffic flow function from a primary traffic artery to a secondary traffic corridor has caused unnecessary traffic congestion on Pier Ave. To seek relief from this unnecessary traffic disruption in residential neighborhoods residents and visitors alike are forced to use secondary residential streets. This increase of traffic multiplies the safety risk to all Hermosa’s, particularly its youth.

Good traffic planning is critical to the safety of our citizens. The city council must conclude the Pier Ave traffic test. The council majority must refute Councilman Sam Edgerton’s assertions that the implementation of the results of this traffic reconfiguration test will benefit our residents. This assertion flies in the face of thoughtful logic and surely does not benefit Hermosa’s residential community.

Gary Brutsch

Hermosa Beach


Hermosa's stripe tease

Dear ER:

Robb Fulcher's story regarding the Pier Avenue four-lane to two-lane, reconfigured striping test brought to attention that a few in power seem absolutely hell-bent on jamming a two-lane Pier Avenue upon the city's people (“Hermosa residents to chart future of Main Drag” ER Aug. 31, 2006). Widening sidewalks for more eating/drinking, display of clothing racks, and placement of other "merchandise" on Pier Avenue public sidewalks, with traffic congestion and intrusion be damned. However, exactly which residents will be charting the decision? The councilmembers and their friends? Now that many Hermosans, visitors, and especially the cabbies, are using shortcuts through residential neighborhoods to avoid Pier Avenue, the council may want the main drag to be a wall-to-wall black concrete slab like lower Pier Plaza with the non-existent curbs, while asserting there would be lanes and parking spaces, but of course never having meant it. (That was one of the council's deceptions fostered during the Pier Plaza approvals.)

Fulcher's report also indicated councilmember(s) said the people needed to be better sold on its two-lane design. Better propagandized? Some on council must assume the average IQ of Hermosa residents and business people are lower than their own.

Per Fulcher's report, the council, evidently to avoid hearing directly from angry Hermosans, will further insulate themselves from the two-lane issue and drag it out by directing the people back to the council's puppet Public Works Commission on Wednesday, September 20 at 7 p.m. for a repeat public hearing on the two-lane blunder. There the council will likely try to orchestrate support and attempt to neutralize resistance.

The people have already spoken, so why does the council need to further waste the peoples' time? Doesn't the council get it? And by the way, all this is not about road flooding, pavement condition, sidewalk condition, or pedestrian safety as some council members have disingenuously alluded to in their comments. Those issues are incidental and an excuse for spending at least $6 to $10 million of the peoples' money on the widening of city sidewalks for nighttime eating and drinking, while dumping more traffic impact into the residential areas.

Hermosa's Public Works director and city manager will be expected to include in their staff report for the September 20 public hearing all the letters, emails, and documentation of the phone calls they and the council have received from the people regarding the two-lane striping matter. That’s because those were the communication methods they and the council have been directing the people to use rather than coming to the meetings in person. Those are important public testimony and hopefully are not being sifted from the records and placed out of the peoples' view.

Howard Longacre

Hermosa Beach

 


The Beach Reporter – September 21, 2006

Hermosa Beach – Crime Watch

ASSAULT. Someone was allegedly stabbed while patronizing a pier plaza establishment between Sept. 9 and Sept. 10. After exiting the restroom of a bar, the victim allegedly noticed a crowd of people leaving the establishment in a hurried fashion. He reportedly noticed a warm feeling on his lower back some time after leaving the bar. After being driven to a local hospital, doctors treated his wound, which was 4 inches wide by 2 inches deep. The victim reportedly did not know when or where he was stabbed.

 

GRAND THEFT. Three individuals allegedly used deception to inappropriately obtain custody of another person's dog. The incident reportedly occurred at the Pier Plaza on Sept. 16 at 4:45 p.m. According to the official crime report, the victim recently purchased a new puppy for $1,000. While standing on the pier plaza, he was allegedly approached by three individuals inquiring about buying the puppy. After entering a discussion with the three individuals, the victim entered a plaza establishment, leaving his dog with an employee of the store. While gone, the three individuals approached the employee and obtained custody of the dog by indicating they were friends with the owner.

BIKE THEFT. Two bikes were stolen from a parking stall in Hermosa Beach between Sept. 5 and Sept. 10. The victim reportedly locked and secured his mountain bikes at parking stall No. 44 at 6 p.m. Sept. 5. When he returned Sept. 10, he noticed the cable lock had been cut and the bicycles were missing. The mountain bikes were worth approximately $1,100.

 

THEFT. Someone reportedly stole a victim's IRS refund check out of a parked car on 15th Street between 2 p.m. Sept. 11 and 10 a.m. Sept. 12. The check was allegedly placed in the victim's backseat of her unlocked vehicle. The vehicle was parked in the parking lot of the victim's apartment complex on 15th Street.

 

RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY. Someone reportedly entered a residence on Second Street between Sept. 10 and Sept. 14 to remove a Compaq laptop from the building. The victim allegedly left for several days, leaving her French doors closed but unsecured. The laptop was allegedly sitting on her living room table, which was visible from the street. According to the crime report, no other items were taken from the premises and no ransacking was present. 

 


The Daily Breeze – September 20, 2006

Hermosa Beach – Police Log

Attempted Assault With a Deadly Weapon: 11:33 p.m. Sept 12, 00 block of Pier Plaza.  Employees of Dragon said a man, who was denied entry due to intoxication and who had threatened to stab employees with a pen, later entered the club as bouncers were otherwise occupied and struggled with employees as he was being physically escorted outside, where a wooden was knocked over.  The employees said that during the incident the man swung a money tray from the podium and a plastic chair from another establishment at them.  The man was arrested on suspicion of attempted assault with a deadly weapon and battery.  The officer said as he was arresting the man, the man grabbed and twisted one of his fingers.

Robbery: 10:10 p.m. Aug. 24, 1600 block of Hermosa Avenue.  The victim was walking when two men asked him directions to Manhattan Beach.  After the victim replied, the men demanded the victim’s bag, wallet and watch at knifepoint.  The victim complied in fear.

Vandalism: 9 p.m. Aug. 25, to 11 a.m. Aug. 26, 00 block of The Strand.  A “large boulder” was thrown through the windows of a residence, landing in a living area.  A neighbor heard noise around 1:30 a.m.; the neighbor’s patio furniture was moved.

 


The Daily Breeze – September 1, 2006

Friday Letters to the Editor


HB road-striping experiment a failure

Hermosa Beach's City Council, residents, businesses and visitors know well that the upper Pier Avenue two-lane road-striping re-configuration is a failure. Fifty thousand dollars in staff and implementation costs will have been expended, although it could have been an even more costly mistake had concrete been poured for the experiment. Many residents and business people indicated prior to this mistake that it was not a wise or necessary re-configuration.

Many also warned the council, in another experiment, that turning off a percentage of street lights was not a bright idea. Thousands of dollars were wasted on that trial, too. Hermosa's council often seems to have no use for what residents or even business people have to say as they're busy "moving the city forward." In fact, they are forcing ideas on the people and businesses regardless of whether they're wise or not, rather than dealing with the mundane of paving Hermosa's streets, most of which are in horrible condition, and reducing the escalating and costly necessity of policing Hermosa's bar district.

The council spends $100,000 every day. It fritters away $50,000 as if it were pocket change. It frittered away $45,000 in staff and consultant time to assess residents and mostly daytime businesses an additional street-lighting tax via a ballot measure that the property owners promptly voted down. That assessment was most likely to further subsidize the millions of dollars per year necessitated for late-night public safety of Hermosa's bar district.

Residents and business people for years have warned Hermosa's council members in public and private that they were creating a late-night policing headache for the city with their gratuitous liquor approvals, but again the council simply did not appear to listen to the people as they were busy "moving the city forward."

-- HOWARD LONGACRE

Hermosa Beach

 


The Beach Reporter – August 31, 2006

Hermosa Beach News

Public Works set to look at Pier Avenue striping project

City officials recently announced that the Public Works Commission will consider the highly contentious issue of Pier Avenue's striping project at its next meeting Sept. 20.

Public Works Director Rick Morgan raised the issue publicly on at least two separate occasions, once during the Aug. 8 meeting of the City Council and again near the end of the Aug. 16 meeting of the Public Works Commission. In addition to these verbal announcements, an employee with the Public Works Department sent an e-mail Aug. 23 to various officials within city government that included a copy of the public notice for the meeting. The announcements mark the final stages of the striping project, which began when the Public Works Commission approved reducing Pier Avenue from a four-lane to two-lane road in January.

Shortly after the changes were first implemented June 7, local officials received an onslaught of negative comments from people opposed to the street's new configuration. Later that month, Mayor Peter Tucker jokingly told The Beach Reporter that the new configuration led some drivers into a “Devil's Triangle” - upon entering the mobile home park north of Pier Avenue, drivers would never come back out.

After the street's initial transformation, the city justified the changes by posting a public notice on its Web site stating the project's goals were to “produce a more pedestrian-oriented gateway streetscape” and to “correct drainage problems” along upper Pier Avenue. Tucker even went so far as to describe the area as a “flood zone” during the winter months. The notice went on to declare in large boldface type that “THIS IS ONLY A TEST” and if it was deemed “unacceptable to the community,” the project would be “terminated” and Pier Avenue would be returned to its “original configuration.” In addition, the Daily Breeze reported in June that Morgan stated the “experiment” was intended to last for six months but could be shortened if the “outcome is unfavorable.”

 

Several weeks after the restriping, city officials recognized that the street's new configuration created several problems and authored a report that recommended the narrowing of the center turning lane from 20 feet to 15 feet. It also suggested that the merger of westbound traffic should be pushed past Bard Street. These changes would help to keep traffic at the intersection of Pier Avenue and Valley Drive from backing up to Pacific Coast Highway, and to provide the Fire Department with another lane to use when eastbound lanes were blocked with traffic.

At the City Council's June 27 meeting, Morgan presented the report to the council. He conceded that most of the responses received by the city were negative and that the community disagreed with an assessment by the city's traffic engineer that “everything seems fine.” But despite the seemingly inconsistent nature of these statements and the city's public notice, which indicated the test would be terminated if deemed “unacceptable to the community,” Morgan concluded his remarks by stating “staff cannot recommend going back to the way it was.” The council subsequently agreed with Morgan's assessment and approved the expenditure of an additional $8,015 to pay for implementing the staff's recommendations.

When asked last week about the results of the latest changes, Morgan voiced support for the striping project. “When I came to Hermosa, something that struck me was all the stop signs,” said Morgan. “It makes you look at the other driver's eyes before you go. I think slowing folks down through our one beach area is perfectly appropriate.” He added, “In July, we retweaked the striping, and it solved about 90 percent of the problems. Any delays above Valley and Ardmore are strictly caused by the stops above Ardmore.” Morgan also implied that though the striping project would be the only item on the agenda at the commission's Sept. 20 meeting, the final decision on the matter would be made at a later time between members of the City Council and Public Works Commission.

The upcoming decision will have a large impact on people like Jed Sanford, the owner of the Union Cattle Company restaurant. As one of the businesses located along Pier Avenue, Sanford initially supported the changes to the busy thoroughfare. “For me specifically it has a huge impact,” said Sanford. He agreed that traffic from the street's restriping was an issue, but stressed that the city's eventual goal of revitalizing Upper Pier Avenue was of the utmost importance. “Any revitalization of that area is clearly a positive. The question is can it be done without affecting the ability of people to get around the city?”

 


The Beach Reporter – August 31, 2006

Hermosa Beach – Crime Watch

THEFT. A patron of a Pier Plaza establishment allegedly was the victim of a purse thief Aug. 27 at 10:07 p.m. Before going to the dance floor, the victim reportedly left her purse under a sweater on the chair at her table. After returning, she discovered the purse was missing and immediately notified the bar's staff. An employee with the bar subsequently detained an individual outside the bar who was allegedly observed “ransacking” a woman's purse. The suspect was later arrested by police officers later that night.

 

ROBBERY. A man was allegedly the victim of a robbery by gunpoint Aug. 27 at approximately 5 a.m. While walking northbound near the 1300 block of the Strand, an individual was allegedly approached by two men. One of the men reportedly asked for a light. After responding that he did not have one, the other individual said, “Give your wallet then.” At this point, someone allegedly brandished a small-caliber handgun. The victim told police that he handed over his wedding band and had his necklace ripped from his person while wearing it. The two suspects then fled the scene.

 

THEFT. Someone reportedly stole a bag and towel from the beach Aug. 26 between 1:30 and 2 p.m. While visiting the beach near Second Street, the alleged victim went to the restroom, and left her bag and towel on the sand. When she returned, both items were gone. A Samsung C-670 cellular phone worth approximately $100 was in the bag.

 

THEFT. Someone reportedly stole a backpack from the beach Aug. 10 between 12:30 and 1 p.m. The owner of the backpack allegedly entered the water while leaving her backpack on the sand. The victim allegedly returned to find the backpack missing.

 

ROBBERY. Someone walking northbound on Hermosa Avenue was reportedly the subject of a robbery by knifepoint. The incident allegedly occurred Aug. 24 at 10:10 p.m. While walking on the sidewalk, the victim was approached by two individuals. One allegedly asked for directions to Manhattan Beach. After responding, the other individual then said, “What's in your bag?” At this point, his cohort brandished a knife with a 4-inch blade. The victim was then told to give his wallet and watch to the men.

 


The Beach Reporter – June 8, 2006

Hermosa Beach News

Three council candidates boycott forum

Three of the four candidates who battled for the City Council seat filled after Tuesday's voting touched off a pre-election day dustup when all but one skipped a televised political forum hours before it began.

The surprising move by a trio of political challengers - rejecting an election-eve appearance before voters - turned what was slated as a candidates' forum into a discussion between an office-seeker and the audience.

The Hermosa Beach Neighborhood Association organized the event, which was planned as the watchdog group's first political forum. Candidates Patrick “Kit” Bobko, who was declared the winner of Tuesday's election, Jeff Maxwell and Jeff Duclos told the association they would not attend via e-mails sent some six hours before the broadcast.

 

 

Janice Brittain, an education administrator, was the sole attendee.

Al Benson, head of the neighborhood association, said he was puzzled by the timing of the withdrawal - and that it wasn't one or two candidates skipping the event but three of four. Benson ran and lost for a council seat last November.

“They gave me six hours notice,” Benson said. “They have the right not to show up at the forum but if they really have problems, they could have given me a call.”

The neighborhood association is best known for its efforts to highlight what they see as problems resulting from a too-raucous lower Pier Avenue scene. The group contends crime, especially violent incidents, has shot up with the increasing popularity of the bar-laden strip.

The candidates, however, complained the event was less a political forum for those vying for office than a platform for the group.

Bobko said his schedule was just too packed on that day to attend the forum and downplayed the notion that the three candidates acted together to undercut the event.

“To be perfectly frank, that was not the case,” said Bobko. “As much fun as these forums are, I have other things to do and simply can't get to everything all the time.”

Bobko noted that he and the other candidates already participated in three similar forums. They were sponsored by the League of Women Voters, Leadership Hermosa and the Chamber of Commerce.

Still, Bobko, the two others who cancelled and Brittain briefly met the night before and discussed withdrawing from the forum. Bobko said the group discussed the matter but stressed that it was chitchat rather than guerilla political tactics.

“While it's clear we didn't show up, it wasn't a concerted effort,” Bobko said. “What we're talking about is someone taking personal offense.”

While Duclos declined to return telephone messages seeking comment, Brittain said weightier issues were at play.

“Bottom line, I gave my word and I live up to my word,” she said. “It's the integrity of it - as a council person you have to deal with all audiences.”

Brittain and others, however, said the group's material was freighted with its point of view and too detailed for the occasion.

“It was like a term paper,” she said.

Benson said the group misread his intent and short-shrifted pressing issues.

“I'm disappointed that they had this little powwow on this issue and made a collective decision behind my back,” he said. “I'm worried about crime - and they don't want to answer those questions.”

Of the candidates involved, Brittain was the only one on Tuesday's ballot who did not run last November.

The seat opened when the election's winner, Howard Fishman, declined the post when his wife became ill.

In that contest, Councilman J.R. Reviczky triumphed with Duclos finishing fourth, Bobko fifth and Maxwell seventh among a field of 10 candidates vying for three council seats.

 


The Daily Breeze – April 12, 2006

Assault With a Deadly Weapon:

2:06 a.m. April 9, 00 block of Pier Avenue.  Police arrested one man on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly hitting and kicking the victim, who was taken to a hospital for treatment.  A second man, who may also have hit the victim, left with a third man.  A second victim told police that she was punched while trying to stop the incident.  The second victim said the incident began when she and another woman were waiting for a taxi, three men were flirting with them and the male victim asked the men to leave.

Stabbing / Assault With a Deadly Weapon:

2:45 a.m. April 8, Ardmore Avenue and Fifth Street.  A man who police said had an approximate 10-inch cut on his stomach said he was walking south on Fifth Street when a man walked up behind him, asked how he was and what was up, then stabbed him and fled.  The man said he then walked to a hotel and called his girlfriend.  The report noted that the victim was uncooperative and initially refused medical treatment.


The Beach Reporter – April 6, 2006

Hermosa Beach – Crime watch


 

ASSAULT / ATTACK. A man was reportedly assaulted by two men in the 1300 block of Manhattan Avenue April 1 around 2:06 a.m. The man told police he was with friends at a nearby restaurant and left around 2 a.m. to eat some food. The victim stayed behind outside the restaurant for unknown reasons and began to walk north on Manhattan Avenue. The next thing he remembers is waking up in the hospital. A witness was standing near Manhattan Avenue and 14th Street looking toward the restaurant located near the corner of Pier and Manhattan avenues. The witness noticed a black pickup pull out of the underground parking lot near the restaurant. Two men got out of the truck, grabbed the victim and threw him on the ground in the middle of the street. One of the suspects kicked the man in the face as he fell to the ground and continued to kick him in the head while he was motionless on the ground. The other suspect punched him in the face. The witness ran toward the scene and discovered that the victim was his friend. The suspect ran back to the truck and began to get inside as the witness followed after them. He began to write down the license plate number when the suspects got back out of the truck and looked at him. The suspects got back inside and drove away, and the victim was transported to a nearby hospital. Doctors said he suffered small fractures to his sinus area and also sustained a bump on the back of the head, some bruises and two black eyes.

 

COLLISION. A woman was reportedly hit by a man riding a bike in the 3500 block of The Strand March 31 at 8:49 a.m. The woman was walking toward the stairs at 35th Street when she was hit by the bike and fell to the ground. Police noticed that her face and lip were swollen and she had a tooth knocked out. The woman also complained of pain in her elbow, hands and wrists that were used to break her fall. The man said he was riding north when the woman walked out in front of him. He yelled at her to move but could not avoid the collision. He hit the woman and landed in the sand but did not sustain any injuries. He estimated he was going about 15 mph.

 

STOLEN CAMERA. A camera valued at $440 was reportedly stolen from either a car or garage in the 1000 block of Eighth Street March 24 at 10 a.m.

 

STOLEN MUSIC. An Apple iPod valued at $300 was reportedly stolen from the center console of a car parked in a driveway in the 800 block of Seventh Street between March 31 at 11:15 p.m. and April 1 at 11:30 a.m. The victim believes she left the car unlocked.

 

CAR VANDAL. A nail was reportedly placed under a tire of a car belonging to a man living in the 500 block of Prospect Avenue either April 1 or 2. The victim said he has had nine nails removed from his tires in the past year, and that his car has also been egged and the front damaged. He suspects his neighbor who has been accused of vandalizing another neighbor's car in the past.

 

 

Manhattan Beach – crime watch

 


ARMED ROBBERY. On March 31 at about 12:30 a.m., a man was robbed at gunpoint near 35th Street and Blanche after parking his car. The victim parked his car on 35th Street and unloaded several items from the trunk of his car, including a duffle bag. The victim then started walking eastbound on 35th Street toward Blanche. He saw a light-colored sedan drive westbound on 35th Street when he neared the corner of Blanche. He was approached from behind by the suspect, who pointed a gun at his head and told him to drop his property on the ground. The victim dropped his wallet, keys, gym bag and sweatshirt to the ground. The suspect told the victim to run southbound on Blanche, which the victim did. The suspect took several of the items. The victim saw the suspect leave in the car, but did not know if he was also the driver. The victim told police that he feared for his life.

 

 Redondo Beach – crime watch

 


ROBBERY. Police reportedly arrested a man April 1 at about 6:30 p.m. who had robbed a car earlier that morning. Undercover officers were near Artesia Boulevard and Mackay Lane when they saw a subject with outstanding arrest warrants walking in the area with a companion. As uniformed officers approached them, the two subjects ran in opposite directions. The suspect with the warrants was found hiding nearby in a driveway on Mathews Lane and was taken into custody without incident. The undercover officers followed the second suspect into a nearby business and detained him. Officers responding to this call recognized his description from an auto burglary that had occurred earlier that day at about 2:30 a.m. on Haynes Lane in central Redondo Beach. The suspect in that crime was wearing a distinctive sports jersey similar to the one worn by this suspect, and he matched the other descriptors. Officers arrested him for suspicion of burglary. Subsequent investigation resulted in the recovery of property from the early morning burglary.

 


Hermosa Beach and Manhattan Beach Crime Close-Up.  Years 1998 to 2004 Crime Stat Comparison   http://www.hbneighborhood.org/1%20HB%20CrimeNews%202006%201.htm



The Daily Breeze – July 29, 2005

Women attacked in 3 incidents near Pier Plaza in Hermosa Beach

 

Police in Hermosa Beach issued a warning Thursday for women to avoid walking alone late at night from Pier Plaza bars following two attacks that might be related to a brutal assault last year.

Police fear two late-night incidents in the vicinity of bars are the work of one man, who may have also committed a 2004 assault in the same area.  All three women were walking alone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The woman described the man as white, 6 feet 2 inches tall and 220 pounds with a stocky, muscular build and light-colored hair.  He was driving a gray or charcoal-colored four-door coupe, possibly a Cadillac or other large luxury car.  If you have any information, please contact the HBPD at 310-318-0332.


Daily Breeze

Police in Hermosa Beach issued a warning Thursday for women to avoid walking alone late at night from Pier Plaza bars following two attacks that might be related to a brutal assault last year.

Investigators speculate that the man -- dubbed the "Late Night Attacker" -- was attempting to rape his victim Sunday when he grabbed her as she walked on Monterey Avenue in the south end of the city.

"We don't know what the motivation for the attacks is," Sgt. Paul Wolcott said. "They haven't actually been completed but ... the intent of the attacker was for sexually assaulting the victim."

The victim was walking alone at 2:15 a.m. on a well-lighted sidewalk when a muscular man confronted her. The woman kneed the man in the groin, allowing her to escape, police said.

The woman described the man as white and 5 feet 10 to 6 feet tall.

Police believe the attack is related to a July 8 incident when a man tried to drag a woman into his car.

According to detectives, the woman was walking home from the downtown area in a dimly lighted alley near 10th Street and Monterey at 3:30 a.m. when she was accosted. The man tried to drag her to a car, but she fought with him, using her keys as a weapon. She escaped and ran.

The woman described the man as white, 6 feet 2 inches tall and 220 pounds with a stocky, muscular build and light-colored hair. He was driving a gray or charcoal-colored four-door coupe, possibly a Cadillac or other large luxury car.

Detectives believe the two recent incidents are related to the March 8, 2004, attack on a woman who was dragged into a stairwell and beaten.

Police did not know if the man intended to sexually assault or rob her. Nothing was taken from her purse.

The woman was knocked unconscious in the attack, which occurred on 10th Street east of Bayview Drive. The man ran when a resident looked out a window.

Police said women should avoid walking in dimly lighted alleys or streets at night, and should not walk alone.

"We don't know if he is seeing females in the bars and waiting for them to come out and following them or if he just is cruising by and sees them and tries to grab them," Wolcott said.

Wolcott said victims should do all they can to avoid being forced into a car.

Police issued a computerized sketch of the man in the hope that someone might be able to identify him.

Some bar operators have become aware of the attacks and are making sure employees and customers are safe.

"We make sure we walk all of our employees here to their cars at the end of the night," said Chris Saufua, a manager at Patrick Molloy's. "If (customers) are regulars or drinking too much, we walk them to a cab. We don't let them walk out of here drunk."

 


KCBS-TV Channel 2 News at 5 PM -

Hermosa Beach Police Issue Warning To Women - Broadcast on 7/29/05 at 5pm.

 

Hermosa Beach Police detectives believe the two incidents may be linked to a March 8, 2004, attack on a woman who was dragged into a stairwell and beaten. 

View the CBS-TV Channel 2 news story on the Pier Plaza Assaults . . .  You need Windows Media Player in order get the audio/video of this CBS-TV  news story reported by Paul Dandridge.

HERMOSA BEACH, Calif. (CBS) Hermosa Beach police are warning women to avoid walking alone from Pier Plaza nightspots following two attempted assaults possibly committed by the same man who attacked a woman last year.  Detectives told the Daily Breeze that they believe the man -- dubbed the "Late Night Attacker" -- was trying to rape a woman when he grabbed her as she walked on Monterey Avenue in the south end of the city early Sunday.  The victim was walking alone at 2:15 a.m. on a well-lighted sidewalk when a muscular man confronted her. The woman was able to escape by kneeing him in the groin, police said.  On July 8 about 3:30 a.m., a woman was walking home from the downtown area in a dimly lighted alley near 10th Street and Monterey Avenue when a man tried to force her into a car, the Daily Breeze reported.  That woman also managed to escape.  If you have any information related to the incidents, please call Detective Robert Higgins at 310-318-0341.


 

The Beach Reporter - February 3, 2005

 

Hermosa Beach News

 

Annual police report cites 2004 crime stats (2/3)

 

By Whitney Youngs

 

According to Hermosa Beach's annual statistical report for 2004, major crime in most categories exhibited a downward direction compared to 2003, but just like in 2003, there was a continued upward trend in the category of the number of adults arrested. 

 

According to the report, of the major crimes reported - murder, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft and auto theft - the police documented 714 crimes in 2004 compared to 752 crimes reported in 2003.

 

"It's always been described to me over the years that our crime rate is somewhat flat and I think this year's report is still somewhat characteristic of that," said Hermosa Beach Police Chief Mike Lavin. "We are up in a few categories, we are down in a few others. There are no real significant changes."

 

Police reported no murders this year compared to one last year while sex crimes declined from 11 cases in 2003 to seven cases in 2004.

The murder reported in 2003 was that of Hermosa Beach resident Joel Bues, 25, who was killed in his car at the intersection of Pier Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway in March 2003 at approximately 12:45 a.m.

 

Bues was shot to death while driving his BMW, which he pulled up to a red light at the intersection in the outside left-hand turning lane. Police were never sure if the shooting was a random act of violence or if Bues knew the suspect.

 

According to the report, robbery rose slightly with 20 cases reported in 2004 compared to 13 in 2003.

 

Assaults increased by only three cases from 140 in 2003 to 143 in 2004. On the other hand, burglary reports declined by three cases from 143 in 2003 to 140 in 2004.

 

 

Theft, which includes grand and petty thefts, and auto theft also declined in 2004. In the area of theft, police reported 388 cases in 2003 compared to 359 in 2004; and in auto thefts, police had reported 80 in 2002 and 56 in 2003, which are both up from 2004's 45 reported cases. DUI reports also decreased from 285 in 2003 to 164 in 2004.

 

"I not sure exactly why we have seen a drop in DUIs," said Lavin. "We still participate with the South Bay DUI Task Force which deploys every month. In addition to that, we are still out there doing our own thing."

 

Police continued arresting more people this year with 1,388 adults arrested. The figure continues to grow each year, setting new records in more than a decade. Police arrested 1,315 adults in 2003, which had already constituted the highest number of arrests since 1991.

 

"I think the large number of arrests is a result of the activity downtown," added Lavin. "It brings us an awful lot of business.

 

I'm not sure if we are necessarily seeing larger crowds. My impression is that the size is very much the same over the years. What we are seeing is a very transient crowd - a lot of different people who are circulating through just in the different people we arrest. People who are in the area have heard about Hermosa Beach and want to come check it out."

 

Juvenile arrests in 2004 were reported at 20 compared to 28 in 2003.

 

Police once again reported no fatal traffic accidents in 2004, 2003 or 2002; and reported 60 injury traffic accidents in 2004 compared to 88 in 2003. In the downtown area, the Police Department has had to staff foot patrols in the downtown area virtually every night of the week, which is an indication that the area has become more active during the week as well as the weekends.

 

"It remains busy on the weekends, in particular, but even now during the week it's busy, busy enough where we would never staff foot patrols down there at night we are now staffing them about six nights of the week," explained Lavin.

 

"We almost have to maintain a presence down there to kind of keep things under rein. People get intoxicated and start fighting, and if we weren't down there to stop it, we would see our misdemeanor batteries escalating into felony assaults with deadly weapons.

 

Someone could even go to the point of killing someone else just because they are in a drunken stupor and they're doing something really stupid. So really one of the real basic missions of the officers down there is to try and stop those disturbances from getting out of hand."

 

The number of police calls for service decreased this year from 32,241 to 30,215 while the number of disturbance calls rose from 3,025 to 4,201. The number of parking citations also increased from 46,800 to 51,137.


Hermosa Beach Crime Statistics - 1998 to 2004

                                                                                                                      Criminal        Adult       Total Calls     Disturbance

           Burglary    Robbery      Assaults     DUI       Citations        Arrests     For Service    Calls            

1998 --     113            17                77          150           562               608           19,951            3,199

2004 --     140            20              143          164         1,419            1,388           30,215            4,201

 

Crime Categories That Have Shown an Increase from 1998 thru 2004

                                                                                                Criminal        Adult       Total Calls      Disturbance

             Burglary    Robbery    Assaults      DUI       Citations       Arrests     For Service     Calls               

                Up            Up             Up           Up           Up               Up             Up               Up

              23.9 %   17.6 %       85.7 %     9.3 %    152 %        128 %       51.4 %        31.3 %

 

Source: The Hermosa Beach Police Department Activity Reports

 



 

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