Beach Volleyball Court Installation.
Dante Pagulayan presented the Staff Report. Staff recommends that Commission consider resident request to install two (2) beach volleyball courts at 6th Street and the Strand. The Community Resources Department received a letter of request and application from Greg Maffei. Mr. Maffei is requesting the installation of two (2) volleyball courts just south of 6th Street to accommodate the increasing number of volleyball players at the south end of the City. Attached to the staff report is the actual letter of request as well as the application and an updated inventory of all of the volleyball courts in Hermosa Beach from 35th Street all the way down.
Commissioner Bell: Do we have anyone here wanting to make a comment on the volleyball court installation?
Toni Pizer, Opposed: North of the Pier, there are wide expanses of sand and not as many volleyball courts. South, there are a lot more. On 6th Street, there are four (4) courts already. One of them is not being used because there are posts there and no net, two legitimate courts and one made with sticks for posts. We like to go on the sand with our grandchildren and people to sunbathe. You are being pelted with balls the whole time. You need a piece of sand without a volleyball court near it, a piece of sand for people to use. I am totally against it.
Ron Pizer, Opposed: I asked staff why these two courts are going to be added and I was told “because some people felt intimidated and people were pushing other people off the volleyball courts.” I took a picture of the courts so we’ll all know what it looks like. One court has branches holding up the net that has been up for over a year. Another proper court has a net. Are there any rules and regulations for controlling the nets? What is the maintenance policy? I think we have to be fair. Why do some courts have nets and some don’t?
Commissioner Sigler: Some people take them down and then put them back up on the weekends.
Pizer: Why do they do that?
Commissioner Sigler: They do not want people to play there.
Pizer: Based on the usage I see on the 6th Street courts, I don’t see a need. When you go up the Strand you’ll find that four (4) courts on a street is a lot compared to the average. I just hope you consider it.
Greg Maffei, In Favor: I brought pictures and Google satellite maps so that you can all know how many courts there are from the Pier down to Herondo. There is no enforcement and people can claim courts. My friends are having a hard time finding a court we can get on. I don’t mind where you put them, but we hope a new court could go up where we can play. At 8:00am people are on every volleyball court. I find it difficult to get on a court with our friends and be able to have our kids around without them being in danger.
Bell: Thank you. Questions?
Hollander: Bill Sigler, do the courts all have nets or not?
Sigler: They either have nets or people put them up on weekends. 90% have nets on them.
Maffei: People take them down so they can keep the court. The City pays for the poles. I am happy to pay for the net, lock it on, and have it available for people to play. We are asking for two courts, which leaves another for the public. We play sixes, which enables even more people to enjoy them.
Hollander: If we approve, you are not guaranteed a court.
Maffei: There is a court that we are not infringing on someone who has had a court for some time. I respect that even though they are not supposed to do that. We have a lot of people who want to play together.
Robert Payne, Opposed: I live right opposite the area you are talking about. There are two volleyball courts on 4th Street, two on 7th Street, and four halfway between 6th and 7th. For a block and a half you don’t have a volleyball court. That is about the only area south of the Pier that doesn’t have one. A small percentage of the population plays volleyball. The beach in front of us is used by a lot of people who have children who go out there and play. Close to a volleyball court it is hazardous. 99% of the time courts are empty. We don’t need more. We need to get the ones we have playable. I think I am interested in having an area of the beach where children can come and play safely on the south side of the Pier.
Barbara Payne, Opposed: I would like to show a picture of 6th Street. I approve of volleyball and it is good for people, but I feel we have enough courts. I don’t think it is up to the City to give personal volleyball courts to anyone. I think you should have some rules and regulations. You have a map of where the courts are. Children ought to be allowed to get on the sand. We don’t have a volleyball court in front of us, but I can’t walk out on the sand without dodging balls. I feel we have enough of them and they should learn to share.
Rob Antrobious, In Favor: I am in favor of the volleyball courts due to demographics and location. On our street, like so many others, children have been popping up left and right. We walk down from 2nd Street to the beach and the volleyball courts get very crowded. The reason this is being proposed is for families. The families on 3rd Street would welcome going a few blocks down where it is less crowded. If it gets approved, it is the type of place that people will be proud of.
Veronica Mack, In Favor: My husband and I both play. The courts are available most of the week because we all work. My friends from Manhattan and Redondo come to Hermosa to play and some of us live in Hermosa. That brings tax dollars because of the parking and restaurants we frequent. Also, volleyball encourages a healthy lifestyle. Adding more courts would be great, not necessarily during the week when most of the courts are open, but on the weekends. We get out there bright and early so that we can get a court.
Jason Mosier, In Favor: 90% of the time the courts are open and the beaches are open. The courts take a small percentage of the amount of beach. There is some danger of being hit when you are around a court but they are safe for the beaches. We are all stating that each area is not owned by anyone, but Hermosa does not take care of the courts. The people here will help take care of the courts in that area.
Lorenda Howenbrink, In Favor: I frequent Hermosa Beach to play volleyball. I enjoy coming down with my friends. We are polite, have good etiquette and respect the beach. It is a very small footprint of these nets in Hermosa. I am out here at 8:00 in the morning to get a spot. You have a lot of opportunity for people who are responsible, who want to come and enjoy it, bring hard earned dollars as well to spend at your local stores. I could be playing up at my beach (Manhattan) but I also enjoy coming here.
Bell: We’ll bring it back up here for discussion.
Hollander: I live on the south side and walk the Strand every day. The weekends are high demand for the nets but most of the time it is empty. The nets only take in a small footprint adjacent to the Strand itself. There is still plenty of beach on the south side to play, relax and sunbathe. I don’t think it is a big problem to have nets up there to take into account the high demands on the weekends. I am in favor of the courts.
Sigler: I am involved with volleyball and it is territorial. If you go to a new area you have a tough time getting on the courts. I play at 7th, 8th and 2nd Streets. I definitely understand. Volleyball is the way you bond with all of your friends. I am down there about every weekend and running volleyball leagues at night. It’s a huge beach. 71 courts, each court is 1800 feet, that’s 125,000 feet. Hermosa Beach is at least a mile, millions of feet of beach. If you think of the volleyball courts in terms of the amount of beach it is a very small percentage. The crowd that wants to put these courts in is not a young, rowdy crowd that is going to be partying and disturbing the neighbors. We take it on a case by case basis and the crowd is the 30’s and 40’s crowd. The beach is for everybody and there are a lot of people in this area that want to play volleyball and there are not enough courts down there. From what I see, installation of courts south of 6th Street would not violate the City policy so I would be in favor of it.
Bell: This Commission has had volleyball issues brought before us and we don’t just close our eyes and are blind to the needs of the homeowners or the non-volleyball players. I don’t know how to play volleyball. I am volleyball challenged. In this case I am supporting the volleyball.
MOTION by Hollander to approve volleyball court installation at 6th Street and the Strand.
Sigler seconded
All Ayes
Movie on the Beach
Greg Wyatt, Hermosa Shorts Film Festival: I submitted a DVD for review and hope you all had a chance to review them. I have had a chance to speak with Laura Raymond, Friends of the Parks, and we have coordinated our efforts and I am prepared to answer any of your questions.
Hollander: I want to thank you for a diligent effort in making an independent film for the beach that I think is going to be very well accepted by everyone. I was impressed. I hope that it is still representing the independent film fest. That is my only concern.
Wyatt: Every film was pulled from the last two years of film festivals so they are representative of the festival. They are representative of a specific genre, the G and PG rated. We are planning to add on to the beginning an introduction “welcome to our screening on the beach”. We are preparing, in conjunction with the 30th Anniversary of George Lucas’s Star Wars, on shooting some trailers here in Hermosa Beach. We are planning on using one of those at the beginning. We want to include a trailer, a promo, for Movie in the Park that is two weeks later. We want the people who are at our screening to be fully aware of Movie in the Park. Neither one of those packages has been produced. We would like to include those without your chance to review them.
Sigler: It is great advertising for Friends of the Parks. You will have a captive audience of people watching a movie in a social atmosphere that would probably also want to go see the Movie in the Park. Allowing them to do whatever kind of promo they want is good.
Wyatt: We are hoping that they will come back two weeks later and watch “Flushed Away” which is a fantastic film.
Bell: This meeting is to approve content of the event?
Lynn: Correct. We did not approve the event the last Commission meeting. It was brought back to review new content. You will base your approval or disapproval on the new content.
MOTION by Hollander to approve the event.
Commissioner Sigler seconded.
All Ayes
Bell: Does City Council need to see the trailer?
Lynn: Yes. It would go to City Council April 24th. I would need the collection of DVD’s on the 17th.
