In order to serve alcohol at its centennial gala, Manhattan Beach would have to suspend or change a city ordinance that prohibits serving alcohol on the beach and comply with a list of conditions, said the Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors.
The city applied for the county’s approval to serve alcohol on the beach, but a city ordinance prohibits this. “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,” the ordinance states.
The County’s permit application form states that no permits will be issued to Manhattan Beach, in addition to a handful of other beaches. Carol Baker, community and marketing services division chief for the department, said Manhattan Beach is listed because of the city ordinance prohibiting alcohol on the beach.
“The council got the process upside down,” said 30-year resident Gerry O’Connor. “They went to the County and said, ‘Will you approve this thing that we prohibit ourselves.’”
Responding to the city’s permit application, Santos Kreimann, director of Beaches and Harbors, wrote, “While County ordinance allows that alcohol may be served under strict conditions at certain beach locations, your City’s ordinance prohibits serving alcohol at public events.”
O’Connor believes the solution is simple – the city can either host an event on the beach without alcohol, or serve alcohol at a different location, he said.
In the letter to the city, Kreimann wrote that the department is prepared to approve the permit as long as the city suspends its ordinance and adheres to a list of public safety requirements, which includes $2 million worth of liability insurance, wristbands for those consuming alcohol, a roped off event and a security guard for every 50 people.
According to City Manager Dave Carmany, the city attorney is reviewing the municipal code to determine how the city could comply with these requirements. The issue will be brought to the City Council during one of the next few meetings, Carmany said.
The issue has been a point of contention between residents and those planning centennial events, to which Mayor Nick Tell credits misinformation circulating that portrays the upcoming September gala as an elitist, Oscar party-like event with individuals lining up and staring from the outside. “That’s never been the case,” Tell said. “The overall goal is something akin to Concerts in the Park, on the beach.”
Over the summer, the city hosts weekly concerts at Polliwog Park that are free and open to the public. This year, to fundraise for centennial events, the city offered reserved seating and parking tickets. Residents are allowed to bring alcohol to the concerts, Tell said.
“I think the Centennial Committee believes this will be a once-in-every-hundred-years event, and they don’t plan to have more events or series of events on the sand,” Carmany said, of the gala.
Some residents believe allowing alcohol on the beach defies community values and would set a dangerous precedent for future events.
“There’s a certain character that goes with our community – basically, a sense of common vision and purpose and hometown feel and family orientation,” said resident Ed Caprielian. “This idea of alcohol on the beach goes against that sense of tradition, or values, of what we really represent as a community.”
