Some say new rules are just right, CORE says ‘too tight’
After more than a decade of battling over the fate of the sand dune at Sand Dune Park, neighbors say restrictions put into place two months ago have finally made the problems that came with heavy traffic disappear.
But Citizens for Outdoor Recreation and Exercise (CORE) — a group formed out of the dune debate — say the new rules have gone too far.
“I’m happy [the dune] is open, but, by not focusing on peak period usage, the restrictions went well beyond the scope of the problem as it effectively reduced usage by 80%,” said resident and CORE cofounder Bill Hory. “Besides penalizing families by severely restricting adults playing on the dune with their children, working Manhattan Beach residents that must commute are most penalized.”
For years, neighbors surrounding the small park have complained of heavy traffic, noise, litter and vomit left in the wake of dune users. In August 2009, the city closed the dune indefinitely and installed a chain-linked fence around it. After a series of public meetings, the dune was reopened in August with a system that allows no more than 20 adults on the dune at a time and requires them to make reservations.
A handful of residents who were initially opposed to the dune being reopened for exercise purposes met at the home of neighbor Dennis White this week. All agreed that, with the new rules, throngs of exercisers no longer gather during peak hours, parking around the neighborhood has improved and more residents visit the park again.
“It’s great,” said resident Faith Lyons. “I hate to admit it, but it’s working.”
“I’m content they found a way out,” resident David Wachtfogel. “What we have is a more than reasonable compromise. It’s finally back to normal.”
CORE co-founder Jake Rome, however, thinks the rules discourage exercise and use of the park.
He said that the limited hours for adults — six reservation slots between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays and three slots from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturdays — make it nearly impossible for working adults to exercise.
Children under age 12 have unlimited access to the dune, however they can only go half way up. Without a reservation, parents are only allowed to accompany kids 6-and-under up the dune.
“The way it is set up now is not child or family-friendly,” said Rome, who would like to see the age bumped up to 17. “I talked to the park attendant who said there are probably 80 percent less kids.”
He would also like to see the “unsightly” fence around the dune come down.
“It makes the dune very unwelcoming,” Rome said. “It’s a park. We want it to be open to encourage exercise.”
After a special Sept. 28 City Council meeting, Rome posted on his Sand Dune Facebook page that the city was planning to install a new $280,000 fence around the dune, upsetting White who said the statement was untrue.
“Council has not provided direction to move forward with any fencing at the dune at this time,” said city engineer Steve Finton.
At the meeting, council members considered, among other city facility upgrades, the installation of a new chain-link fence around the dune, which would cost $57,000, or a tubular fence, which would cost $142,500. However, no decision was made.
“What was upsetting to me about that is he grabbed onto a tiny kernel of information and blew it out of proportion to scare people into calling the City Council,” White said. “They have a very sophisticated web presence that presented false information.”
Rome said he was confused by a mistake in the agenda that added the cost of both fences in the total. On Tuesday, he said he would remove the Facebook post.
While many neighbors feel dune activity is finally at an acceptable level, some would like the city to consider the long-term costs of keeping it open to exercise.
“[The city] has acknowledged that reopening that portion of the park costs $100,000 a year,” said Robert Hess, who has made 92 phone calls to police about dune problems in the last few years. “Look at the five- or the 10-year cost to residents. Should the city spend that over the next several years just so people can go up and down the dune for an hour?” ER