Redondo Beach mayor weighs in on Seaside Lagoon status
By Garth Meyer
by Garth Meyer
Mayor Jim Light weighed in on the latest action regarding Seaside Lagoon, during which a city council-approved plan was rejected by the Harbor Commission last week. It will return to the city council for further discussion Sept. 15.
The Harbor Commission’s vote came after California Surf Club and BeachLife Festival co-founder Allen Sanford proposed a wave pool as part of the Lagoon. The idea has the support of the King Harbor (business) Association and Tom Horton, president and co-founder of South Bay Boardriders, among others.
Mara Santos, president of the Redondo Beach Chamber of Commerce has called for a pause to the city’s more modest Seaside Lagoon plan.
“As a surfer, I think a wave pool would be a cool addition to our waterfront,” Mayor Light told Easy Reader this week. “I can understand why surfers would like it. I can also see how a surf pool might help a beginner learn to negotiate waves. My concerns remain that the wave pool becomes the dominant feature, eating up much of the park, and takes up rows of parking.”
The mayor questioned whether a wave pool would align with state requirements that come with being in the Coastal Zone, and if it complies with Redondo Beach Measure C, approved by Redondo Beach voters in 2017. It states that Seaside Lagoon is to remain the same size or larger, that it accommodate people of all abilities, and the cost of admission stays low.
“I also see installed infrastructure, especially the county storm water pipes that run along the eastern and southern end of the park, as a potential obstacle to the wave pool as depicted in (Sanford’s) concept drawing,” Light said. “I am willing to listen to answers to the concerns, but I am skeptical. It seems the concept puts 10 pounds of uses in a 5-pound park. I am also sensitive to the characterization that the concept would result in the poor kids playing in a much reduced lagoon watching rich people surf. I think there are ways to mitigate that, but I am not sure they would pen out financially.”
Light expressed surprise at certain issues raised by the Harbor Commission at their special Aug. 25 meeting about the Lagoon plans. The seven commissioners had also given input on the plans earlier in the process.
“The discussion on sea level rise,” Light said. “I thought the design accommodated sea level rise through 2050, but I await the response of staff and the contractor.”
The mayor highlighted that “three of the concerns of the Harbor Commission were certainly justified. We all thought the entire Lagoon would be sand-bottomed, and that it would be deeper. It was a surprise to me that an evolving version of the design had no sand at all. The compromise was keeping sand in the shallow area where kids will be playing in it. In the deep area, no one plays with the sand. Having the deep end without sand results in the increased safety of clear water.”
Light also cited a concrete bottom as an advantage because water can be drawn into the filtration system from deeper in the Lagoon, keeping it “cleaner and healthier.”
He mentioned overall depth too, referring to previous discussion by the Harbor Commission about an eight-foot deep end or a five-foot.
“I am unaware that they passed on any desire for any specified depth. But certainly going from eight feet to five feet max is a big change,” Light said. “For me, the savings in cost of a five-foot deep deep end is a fair compromise.”
He cited another advantage of a concrete bottom for the Lagoon being it would be more accessible to people with disabilities.
“Overall, I believe the Lagoon design put before the Harbor Commission is very close to the design they (previously) supported and recommended to the city council,” Light said.
He stressed that the reconfigurable “great lawn” (an extended sand section) remains in the design, and the ability to open the deep end of the lagoon year-round is still an option.
“These were both key innovations recommended by the Harbor Commission to facilitate better year-round activation of the park,” he said.
The mayor has been involved with Seaside Lagoon discussions since 2006-07, during the establishment of South Bay Parkland Conservancy, because of water discharge fines issued to the city because of the Lagoon, and the proposal to build a boat ramp next to it. Light later served on the Harbor Commission for eight years. ER
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