Private benches and picnic tables on the public beach have been a long-standing feature on the sand along Seal Way.
The City Council is expected to discuss the future of those beach benches at a future council meeting.
The benches will remain there for now, but city staff is looking at the issue.
City officials recently notified owners of the benches that they had seven days to voluntarily remove them from the beaches.
Residents of Seal Way asked the City Council to discuss allowing benches and volleyball nets to remain on the beach at the agency’s Monday, May 13 meeting.
District One Councilwoman Ellery Deaton, responding to the request, also asked for a council agenda item on the issue. She told the Sun she believed it needed to be on the council agenda within the next two meetings.
Mayor Gary Miller said he wanted to know what the state government and the California Coastal Commission thought about the issue.
Both Deaton and Miller asked staff to put off removing the benches until the issue is discussed.
According to Jim Basham, director of Community Development, homeowners along Seal Way recently received notice from the city giving them seven days to take benches or other personal items off the beach.
The privately owned benches are not allowed on the public beach under the Seal Beach Municipal Code.
Seal Beach resident Stan Hartford, a Los Alamitos attorney, said there was an ordinance that prohibits permanent structures between the planters and the walkway along the beach. Hartford favors allowing the benches on the beaches.
The Sun phoned Basham for more information. The call was returned by Seal Beach Administrative Patrick Gallegos, who said the issue would be discussed at a future council meeting.
Hartford said there was speculation that the issue came up because of a dispute between two individuals.
Hartford said for the last 15 years, people who live on the beach have put tables and benches out there.
“Everybody uses these benches,” Hartford said.
He believed there might be eight or 10 of the benches on the beach. He said members of the public as well as residents use the benches.
Hartford would also like to see volleyball courts return to the beach.
Hartford said it was nice to see the city looking at ways to allow the benches on the beach.
Joe Kalmick, a bench owner and former candidate for District One, said he hoped the issue would either go away or that a permit process would be established to allow the benches on the beach.
“This issue comes up periodically over the years,” Kalmick said.
“We’ve always managed to self-police things,” Kalmick said.
Kalmick said he had the impression that the council wouldn’t get to the issue for many months.
Kalmick also said he gets the feeling that new hires on city staff are operating in bureaucratic isolation.
During the public comment segment of the May 13 council meeting, seven Seal Beach residents asked the council to take a look at allowing benches on the beach. Hartford asked the council to put a hold on removing benches and volleyball nets from the beach. Hartford expressed concern that removing the benches would effect public access.
“Today, the beach is pretty much deserted when you get past the pier,” he said.
Seth Eaker, speaking on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, suggested the city find a way to create a public/private partnership that would allow people to invest in the beach.
“Let’s make our benches better,” he said.
Kalmick said the benches should be addressed on an individual basis.
Deaton asked for the subject to be placed on a future council agenda and asked that staff put a hold on enforcement until the issue was addressed.
City Attorney Quinn Barrow said the mayor could direct staff to hold off enforcement.
Mayor Miller said he preferred the status quo. He also asked for an opinion from the state and the Coastal Commission on the matter of beach benches.
