Favoring Public Use of the Beach Over the Sensitivities of the Wealthy

May 23, 2006

Dear Editor,

I want to add my voice to the community chorus in support of a widely accessible, usable public beach club at 415 PCH. This much-needed facility should be governed by the needs of all 80,000 Santa Monicans, not just those who live adjacent to the property.

The City Council should remember the California Coastal Act of 1972, adopted as Prop. 20 by all the voters of California over the objections of those who wanted to keep their "private" beaches.

Since then the Coastal Commission has consistently promoted public access and public uses over the private interests of wealthy beach residents. I'm old enough to remember when we had to sneak onto the beaches north of the Santa Monica pier and in Malibu.

In 1988 my husband and I held our wedding at the facility that is now "Back on the Beach" and was then owned by the Sand and Sea Club. We couldn't afford to rent the club itself, and the room we used was the ONLY place in Santa Monica where we could have an affordable beachside wedding on a Saturday night, with a party and dancing.

The proposed restrictions on music, number of guests, rented chairs, and alcohol would have prevented us from having the wedding we wanted, at the beach in Santa Monica. One of the exciting benefits of the city beach club is that we city residents can have our weddings, memorial services, bar mitzvahs, and 50th anniversary parties at a nice beachside spot at a reasonable cost.

The ban on margaritas, the limit on the number of guests, the restriction on music, and early closing requirements will all discriminate against those of us who cannot afford to either belong to the Jonathan Club or rent the Casa del Mar for our celebrations.

No one complained about the wedding we held at the beach club on August 27, 1988 (and you are welcome to view the video if you still have a VHS player). I hope the Council sees the wisdom of the Coastal Act and California's over 30 years of favoring public use of the beach over the sensitivities of the wealthy.

Abby Arnold
Ocean Park resident since 1984