Mayor Massey sees mixed use in downtown Hermosa Beach
Workers prepare the west wall of the old Bijou Movie Theater building for installation of the Biltmore Hotel mural. Photo courtesy of the Hermosa Beach Murals Project
by Dan Blackburn
Downtown Hermosa Beach will undergo a transformation during the coming decade into a mixed-use area emphasizing pedestrian accessibility, newly installed Mayor Justin Massey predicted in his first “Coffee With the Mayor” Saturday morning, Jan. 23.
Massey sipped from a large cup helpfully labeled “COFFEE” as he responded to residents’ questions during the hour-long online event.
He noted that “the pandemic has shown us that there is a way to get people onto (public) transit” for traveling to city destinations.”
“We are being forced to think more about reallocation of resources, new ways of allocating space,” he added.
Massey started his session with an update on local COVID-19 measures, and then took questions from viewers. (He would later say that 30-35 people were signed onto the event.)
He “can’t put any hard numbers” to when schools can resume in-person classes,” said the mayor.
Several callers expressed concern about animals and electric vehicles on and around the beach.
“Dogs on the beach are becoming a bigger problem,” Massey agreed. He said city enforcement officers are responding to complaints as they are received: “We are trying to intercept folks and let them know that dogs on the beach, on leashes or not, are not permitted.”
Electric bikes, scooters and other small vehicles are appearing more regularly on The Strand, and Massey wants people to know that, too, is prohibited.
“The Strand is not the place for those,” Massey said. “But given the growth of electric vehicles this will continue to be a problem.” He asked residents to report such activity so that “we can understand where folks are observing the conduct.”
The city code permits electric vehicles on The Strand and Pier Plaza, but not when “the motorized- or electric-propelled power is in use.”
People driving automobiles in bike lanes bothers Hermosa Avenue business owners, said caller Laura Pena, who suggested painting bike lanes green to better identify them.
That would entail excessive costs, said Massey, but alternative means of marking the lanes is being considered by city staff.
Geoff Hirsch told Massey, “Pier Plaza is completely out of control, with crowds of unmasked people gathering everywhere.”
The city “must exercise enforcement resources, and concentrate on the “highest risk behavior,” said Massey.
Another online Coffee with the Mayor is scheduled for Feb. 20. ER