by Laura Garber
The City of Hermosa Beach is facing an intense timeline to save its pier. A draft plan that officials hope is finalized by year’s end was presented to commissioners during a joint Public Works and Parks and Recreation meeting on Tuesday.
“The pier is in poor to serious condition,” Public Works Director Joe SanClemente said, adding that repairs must be completed by 2027. “Otherwise we are going to have to do additional inspections and face closure of the pier.”
He said the City plans to make the repairs after the busy season, beginning in September or October and continuing through the winter season. The pier “will require reinspection and repair every five years for the foreseeable future as the structure continues to age in a highly corrosive marine environment,” the staff report read.
A new pier is estimated to cost $58.6 million (in 2032 dollars), versus $100 million in ongoing repairs if the pier is not replaced, the staff report also noted.
Without an identified funding source, the pier’s future remains uncertain. The city’s capital improvement budget is already strained.
Brandon Walker, the City’s Administrative Services Director, told commissioners the city needs $8-12 million annually for basic citywide infrastructure repair but is only replenishing General Funds at a rate of $4-6 million.
“There is no consistent structural General Fund support for capital projects,” Walker said.
COVID relief funds, employee vacancy savings and deferred projects helped sustain capital spending in recent years, but Walker said those sources can no longer be relied upon.
“We need structural resources to talk about funding ongoing needs,” he said.
SanClemente added that public works is already at capacity.
“Currently, public works workload is full for the next two fiscal years with no capacity to take on any new work without the removal or replacement of those projects,” SanClemente said, adding that the CIP current programming would already be challenging to deliver.
The City needs to provide direction by the end of 2026 to replace the pier to allow groundbreaking to begin in 2032, or provide direction by no later than 2030 to break ground by 2036.
SanClemente told commissioners replacing the pier would require six to eight years for permits.
“So the challenge is that we need a decision by the end of 2026, otherwise we’re locked in to another $4 million for improvements by 2030.”
Parks and recreation commissioner Traci Horowitz asked about the recent Piers Reinvestment Act introduced by Congressman Robert Garcia to help coastal communities repair aging piers using federal funds.
“That was exciting news,” SanClemente said. “I think it emphasizes the problem with a lot of these [state and federal] grants, is that we are precluded from applying for funds to repair something like a pier. There’s a lot of funding for things like bridges, but it excluded pier structures, so that legislation would allow that to occur should it pass.”
Commissioner Barbara Ellman questioned what would happen to the pier if nothing were to be done.
“We would have to close it,” SanClemente said.
“That is what the future would look like. It would be continual monitoring, continual inspection, and then ultimately limited closures or full closure, and it’s not far off if we fail to do these high-priority repairs.”
“It could present a fall risk at some point down the line,” SanClemente said, adding that while surfers don’t surf right under the pier, they are nearby. “There would be a cost to remove which would be millions of dollars in itself. Demolition alone will be costly.”
In 1987, Redondo Beach resident George Benda received $3.26 million from Los Angeles County after a 150 pound concrete slab fell from the Manhattan Beach pier leaving him a paraplegic. Benda’s lawsuit claimed the pier was in a “dilapidated condition.”
SanClemente told both sets of commissioners City Council directed city staff to the Public Works Commission for further workshopping.
“I think the issue about the pier is really, really important,” resident Laura Pena said. “I don’t think a lot of people realize that we could possibly lose this. And if we have to make a decision by the end of 2026, you need to get the public’s attention on this.” ER
A lot of crap from San Clemente. The Pier is only in an unsafe condition based on his voodoo specification requirement of support for a heavy truck on the Pier. The Pier if restricted to pedestrians only it has another 20-plus years life span. Because San Clemente says it does not make it true. Better if he tried fixing the streets which seems beyond him & his bloated department.