A divided City Council decided on Tuesday that there would be no alcohol on the beach for the centennial gala.
Council members Wayne Powell, Amy Howorth and David Lesser were against the idea, stating that it would set a precedent for future events.
In January, the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors told the council that it would have to suspend or change a city ordinance that prohibits serving alcohol on the beach and comply with a list of conditions, in response to the city’s permit application requesting to serve alcohol on the beach.
The current ordinance states: “The Council may grant special permits for the sale or consumption of wine or beer at special functions or activities in the City of Manhattan Beach, including the Manhattan Beach Pier, but excluding the remainder of the public beach.”
City Attorney Roxanne Diaz had drafted an uncodified ordinance that would allow alcohol consumption on the beach just in connection with the centennial ball.
While Mayor Nick Tell and Councilmember Richard Montgomery argued for a once in a lifetime event on the beach, the remaining council members were vehemently opposed.
“Uncodified ordinance? No. If you’re going to do something, you make an ordinance that applies consistently, uniformly, and it’s codified,” Powell said. “It’s a double standard. We’re actually saying, oh but the city, or an entity that’s closely aligned with the city, the Centennial Committee, can do something that our residents can’t. I don’t think that’s fair.”
Lesser said he was opposed to the idea from the start. “As each iteration of it becomes clear, my opposition grows,” he said. “This is not a close call for me. I’m very much opposed to this.”
Howorth concurred. “Laws are there to guide us when decisions are kind of tough,” she said. “For us to say, well no, but we’re going to overturn that law for our own event, our city event, is selective and sort of self-serving.”
The decision created an uncertainty to how the gala will play out. Tell said many questions remain – “question of sponsors, question of is it going to be on the beach, a lot of hard questions,” he said.
The event was set to take place on September 22. Some details in the city staff report describing the event were incorrect, leaving some residents confused about the nature of the event. For example, the staff report had incorrectly indicated the centennial ball would include live entertainment and would be similar to Concerts in the Park. Carol Baker of the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors noted that it’s never been a part of the county’s permitting process to allow bands on the beach.
With the plans having taken a turn, the council is going to have to be much more involved in organizing the event moving forward, Tell said, including potentially covering some event costs.
Toward the end of the meeting, Tell invited Powell and Lesser to replace himself and Montgomery on the Centennial Committee. Only two council members are allowed to serve on an outside committee at the same time, as to not violate the Brown Act. Powell declined the invitation, stating his involvement in many other council-related committees, and Lesser said he’d have to think about it. Howorth offered to serve on the committee.
