Sunday Rally Seeks to 'Free the Dune'

Since its temporary closure by the City Council at the end of last summer, the fate of a steep and well-trod berm in Sand Dune Park has inspired a groundswell of local movement.

The culmination of that movement is a rally today organized by a group calling itself Citizens for Outdoor Recreation and Exercise (CORE). The group—whose stated mission is "to advocate for parks and healthy lifestyles within the city"—formed in January, when the council voted to "repurpose" the sand dune due to concerns about noise, litter, traffic and erosion. The 100-foot, nearly 30-degree incline is not only popular with locals, but has become a destination for exercise-seekers from outside the city and county, leading neighbors of the park to complain of over-usage.

But CORE's founders say the council's move to address these concerns has been heavy-handed.

"A policy of shutting down parks because we enjoy using them is extremely troubling to Manhattan Beach residents," said resident and CORE co-founder Jake Rome. "We agree that peak usage needs to be reduced and have submitted numerous solutions to address overuse while allowing peaceful exercise for kids and adults."

Some of the ideas proposed by the group have included reducing peak usage hours in the morning and evening, capping the number of visitors at any given time, and charging an annual permit fee of $25 for users of the dune, children excepted. Violators of dune rules could then be penalized, says the group, by having their permits revoked.

Since January, CORE has attracted more than 2,000 members on its Facebook page and collected nearly as many signatures for a petition aimed at reopening the dune by way of a "common sense compromise," say its founders.

In the meantime, the park's neighbors say their concerns are finally being addressed by the dune's closure, and they applaud the council for bringing some relative peace and quiet to their neighborhood after years of increased influx.

"All we can say as neighbors is that it has been amazingly tranquil since the August 2009 dune closure," said Brad Porter, who lives along 35th Street near the park. "So we cut the source off that was the root cause."

However, he acknowledged that a middle ground may be workable.

"The dune will never go away," he said. "But it can be redone in a way that is not a burden on the city staff, city resources or the surrounding neighbors. This was a nice facility that got out of hand in its usage, and it has to be dealt with."

The organizers of today's rally—which they insist will be peaceful and "family-friendly"—say they are sensitive to the predicament of the park's neighbors, and they put the onus on city officials to find a workable solution.

"The simple fact is that no other recreational area in Manhattan Beach even comes close to inspiring so many children, adults, and families to exercise," CORE President Bill Hory and his wife Ana Hory wrote in a February letter to the Manhattan Beach Residents Association. "Unfortunately, it seems too much of a good thing has led to legitimate complaints by the local residents, which now requires strong city leadership to find a compromise to reduce usage so that the residents can enjoy more of their neighborhood once again."

"The good news is that both sides agree on this," the letter states. "Over-usage, not exercise is the number one problem and a compromise should be sought so that we do not throw out the baby with the bathwater."

The "Free the Dune" rally will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. today, at 26th Street and The Strand in Manhattan Beach.