by Kevin Cody
In-street dining decks in downtown Hermosa Beach were enshrined into the Hermosa Beach Municipal Code by a unanimous vote of the City Council at the Tuesday, February 27 meeting.
Hermosa Environmental Programs Manager Doug Krauss told the council the new dining deck regulations are a “balance of safety, aesthetics, cost and practicality.”
In-street dining decks were first allowed in Hermosa in June 2020 when restaurants were prohibited from serving indoors because of the pandemic. Since then, dining deck permits have been temporary.
To accommodate the decks, which occupy parking spaces, the council has reduced Pier and Hermosa avenues from two lanes in each direction to one, and added bike lanes to serve as buffers between car traffic and the dining decks, which are protected by water-filled traffic barriers.
As another safety measure, downtown speed limits were reduced, from 25- to 20-miles-per hour.
Krauss said the city is considering, as part of a longer term plan, widening the downtown sidewalks so the decks won’t eliminate parking spaces. The current 14 dining decks occupy 34 parking spaces, resulting in an estimated $260,000 annually in lost parking revenue, according to Krauss.
(Manhattan Beach is contemplating expanding its sidewalks to accommodate dining decks, which it now bans. See related story page 12.)
The new code prohibits bars, cashier stations, and food preparation on the dining decks. It also prohibits roofs and open flames, but allows umbrellas, shade sails and propane heaters.
To encourage restaurant owners to make their decks attractive the code creates a $10,000 fund, to be distributed in $600 rebates, for aesthetic improvements. But otherwise, Krauss said, the new code allows flexibility in design, subject to city staff discretion.
Restaurants whose decks block neighboring retailers, must post signs with the retailers’ name. But the code no longer allows retailers to prohibit dining decks in front of their stores.
Millie Velasco, owner of a downtown art gallery complained to the council about being “powerless” to prevent restaurants to the north and south of her from placing dining decks in front of her gallery.
“I met with them, and they were nice. But I have had to accept them being in front of my store, even though I don’t have the opportunity to utilize that space,” she said.
Mayor Justin Massey responded, “One purpose of the dining decks is to increase foot traffic for retailers. They may be blocking your business, but they also bring patrons to your business. It’s a fair balance.”
The new regulations included an increase in the encroachment application fee from $1,374 to $1,895. Krauss said the higher fee is to cover costs associated with reviewing the applications.
Dana Ireland, owner of Coastal restaurant on Hermosa Avenue, asked the council to delay for another year implementing fee increases associated with the dining decks. He said the deck will need $125,000 in increased sales to justify the $25,000 cost of his dining deck fees and improvements.
He noted there are four closed restaurants and seven restaurants for sale in the downtown.
Mayor Massey said he sympathizes with restaurant owners because they have been hard hit by rising food and labor costs, but noted the council has already tiered the fee increases over a three year period. The encroachment fees will increase from the current $1/sq.ft to $2/sq.ft in July.
A requirement that new dining decks have bicycle racks was stricken from the code after council members Dean Francois and Rob Saemann contended the decks aren’t big enough for bike racks.
The new code allocates $5,000 for new bike racks downtown. ER
