No Alcohol on Beach, Says City Council

After about an hour and a half of discussion, the Manhattan Beach City Council chose not to vote Tuesday night on a plan allowing the consumption of alcohol at the Sept. 22 Beach Ball, effectively rejecting the proposed ordinance and resolution.

If approved at the City Council meeting, those attending the centennial committee’s Beach Ball would have been allowed to consume alcohol on the beach, however, the plans for the gala had not yet revealed who those individuals would be: centennial event sponsors, MB residents, a mix of the two, city officials, centennial committee members.

The idea of serving alcohol on the beach, albeit beer and wine, had fanned the flames of controversy among residents as early as last May when a few "watchdog" residents called the noted plan to include alcohol into question, coming to a broader public conversation once the item was agendized last Friday on council's agenda for Tuesday night.

Manhattan Beach’s current municipal code prohibits consuming alcohol on the beach and Los Angeles County requires special approval.

Tuesday night, council declined to vote on the issue once each member's position became clear. City Attorney Roxanne Diaz said a vote was not required.

Mayor Nick Tell, a member of the centennial committee, was in favor of approving the ordinance and resolution. Tuesday night, he told council members and the public that details about the centennial committee’s Sept. 22 event on the beach were incorrect in the staff report for the agendized item, in particular the permit application submitted by city staff to the Department of Beaches and Harbors for county approval of the event.

During the meeting Mayor Pro Tem Wayne Powell, who was opposed to the ordinance and resolution, said approving them would set a “dangerous precedent” that would be creating a double standard because council would have to be “going through hoops” to approve the ordinance.

Powell added that the centennial committee should have looked at other alternatives, such as going to an establishment where alcohol can be served, perhaps at a restaurant by the beach or the Marriott as opposed to having to pass the proposed ordinance and resolution to serve it on the beach.

Council member David Lesser said he was against the ordinance and resolution because their passage would present an opportunity for only a few participants [to drink alcohol]. “This speaks of elitism,” Lesser said during the meeting.

Council member Amy Howorth said she could not support the ordinance because it would be “self-serving,” adding that the city already has a law against alcohol on the beach. Howorth wondered why participants had to pay admission for the event when the beach is supposed to be free.

Although the focus of the discussion was on the ordinance and resolution, the issue of live entertainment at a beach event was brought up.

Carol Baker, a spokeswoman for the Department of Beaches and Harbors, re-iterated the county's policy to not allow live bands to play on the beach, saying they are not allowed due to crowd control issues and because it is not in their practice. Baker added that department director Santos Kreimann was willing to work with council on the issue if council wanted to move forward with those plans.

Kreiman, in response to city staff's permit application for the event, had responded in January, indicating a willingness to approve the application submitted by city staff if the city was able to suspend its own ordinance banning alcohol on the beach.

Tuesday night, council member Richard Montgomery, a member of the centennial committee and the only other council member in favor of the ordinance and resolution, said he felt bad and apologized to the centennial committee because they “had taken abuse in the papers and tonight's comments.” 

“There is so much untruth out there [about the committee and beach event],. It's amazing,” said Montgomery at the meeting. "... There's so much b.s. out there." He said the county had approved alcohol for the Sept. 22 beach event and listed events in MB that include alcohol [Concerts in the Park, the Manhattan Beach Education Foundation Wine Auction and Hometown Fair].

“We’re not in the prohibition era here," he said, "totally separate. But the idea of having that an event, once in a hundred years, and having a controlled and peaceful environment that would ruin the city is ludicrous, and it's a waste of our time to talk about it.”

He said, "If you didn't read the staff report, it's on you. We've been talking about it for a long time. It's not a surprise, it didn't sneak up on you one day and find out, 'Oh, we're gonna have alcohol at this event.' No, it didn't happen folks."