by John Tawa
Concerned about overuse of Sand Dune Park, a Manhattan Beach neighborhood group has requested that the city restrict access to the park and its hours of operation to remedy the problem. A hearing to consider the requests of a group calling itself the "Sand Dune Park Neighborhood Committee" will be conducted Jan. 24 before the Parks & Recreation Commission at 7 p.m. in the City Hall chambers.
In November, the committee sent a memorandum to the city council outlining five specific action items designed to reduce park noise, overcrowding, illegal and unsafe parking and traffic flow through residential streets, among other things.
"Use of Sand Dune Park has grown considerably in the last five years and the state of the park has deteriorated," the memorandum noted. "The problems ... have been in existence for years now but have steadily become worse as word of mouth (particularly outside the city) increases the number of people who know about the park."
"We're just looking for reasonable restraints on the overuse of the park," said committee spokesperson Dave Peterson.
"Sand Dune Park was a tiny little neighborhood park that has become incredibly popular," added Committee member Mariann Fragner. "What we want to do is keep our neighborhood a neighborhood."
Foremost among the group's demands is cutting the park's hours. Presently, Sand Dune Park is open from dawn to 10 p.m. The group seeks to limit access to between 7:30 a.m. and 8 p.m.
"Dawn is much too early," the memo emphasized. "Cars come and park adjacent to homes where residents are sleeping. They have their radios on, slam car doors ... and carry on discussions while exercising on the dune as early as 5:30 a.m. ... Furthermore, because of the inviting nature of the brush-covered paths and "hide-outs" in the hills around the dune, teenagers and others often party and drink in the park at night."
"The problem isn't use of the park at 6 a.m.," Fragner explained. "It's the bullhorns and loud whistles and cheering at 6 a.m."
The Committee also requests that the city eliminate the park's four parking spaces, citing safety hazards due to poor visibility and cars double parked in the spaces.
"The parking spaces are so dangerous," said Fragner, who noted that ample parking would remain on Bell Avenue. "If you eliminate them, it makes the entire area safer."
Requiring permits for groups of 10 or more to use the park, rather than the current 50, would reduce the risk that the park would be overrun, the memo stated, as would eliminating use of the park by personal trainers, sports teams and others engaged in commercial ventures.
Finally, the Committee suggests that an erosion analysis of the dune be performed with an eye toward reducing the width of the dune by 20 feet on the south side.
The left side of the dune is hard packed with no sand, noted committee member Matt Fragner.
"In time, [erosion] is going to wear the hill away," he said unless something was done. "Sooner or later, the hill's going to have major problems."
"[Moving the dune] would fence off the most severely impacted area of the dune, while still allowing adequate room for exercise," the memo stated. "It has the additional benefit of moving some of the activity, and therefore noise, towards the Armory."
The memorandum also stated that a new tot lot under construction for the park will only exacerbate the problems. According to city engineer Ish Medrano, the tot lot should be completed within two weeks.
"[It] will be like having a baby sitter at your gym," stated the memo. "Presently parents leave their children unsupervised on the equipment while they go up and down the dune or stairs. All of the problems mentioned above will become worse.
Some Sand Dune neighbors, who have asked to remain anonymous, have criticized the committee, which is comprised only of nine people, for it's "not in my backyard" approach. The committee, however, insists that no one would be excluded from the park if its suggestions were adopted.
"It isn't a matter of restricting it to Manhattan Beach or tree section residents," explained one committee member, "but people who are within commuting distance of the park number over five million. We don't need five million people coming to the park."
Since the memorandum was distributed, the committee has brainstormed about possible concerns people might have to their proposals. They've adopted a plan that would allow people to work out before 7:30 a.m. so long as they have a permit. People who go to City Hall, show identification and obtain a permit would be entitled to use the dune before park hours subject to revocation if they break park rules, explained Mariann Fragner.
Michael Spiekermann, who lives on 30th Street and isn't part of the group, said that the park's current rules don't bother him.
"I like activity in the park," he noted. "Parks are meant for people to use."
"If I were closer to that Sand Dune, I might feel the same way they do," Spiekermann continued. "There are times at 6 a.m. that I can hear the noise a block or two away. It goes on from the crack of dawn until way after dark." ER