Benches might be allowed to stay on the sands of Seal Beach after all.
Tim Kelsey, the city’s recreation manager, said the Recreation and Parks Commission will hold a study session on Wednesday, Jan. 22, to draft conditions for a beach bench permit process. After the commission has hashed out the proposed rules, the issue will be sent back to the City Council.
The issue of whether privately owned benches and picnic tables should be allowed on the public beach has been an on-going controversy. Supporters call the benches welcoming. Opponents say private benches don’t belong on public beach
The Parks Commission reviewed the issue of private benches on the public beach on Wednesday, Nov. 20.
The commission was scheduled to discuss the issue at the Wednesday, Oct. 23, but failed to achieve quorum. Once the commission reviews the matter, it will return to the City Council.
The Parks Commission last looked at the subject on Wednesday, Sept. 26. At that time, Parks Commission members asked staff to:
• Perform an impact study on using encroachment permits to allow privately owned benches on the public beach.
• See what other cities have done about beach benches.
• Find out what it would take for the city to buy benches.
• Determine the California Coastal Commission’s position on the issue of beach benches.
On July 22, staff presented the City Council with a proposed amendment to the Municipal Code that would ban permanent umbrellas, tents, benches, gardens, fire rings and similar encroachments from the beach.
The City Council sent the issue to the Parks Commission for further review. On Wednesday, Sept. 26, District 3 Parks Commissioner Carla Watson told the public that they wouldn’t be there if there hadn’t been a complaint.
Several beach-area residents asked the commission to find a way to allow benches to remain on the beach.
No one spoke against beach benches at meeting, though city officials did receive several messages—some of them anonymous—arguing that private benches did not belong on a public beach.
Seth Eaker, speaking as a representative of the Seal Beach Chamber of Commerce, said the issue sends a message.
“The Seal Beach I know is welcoming and inviting,” Eaker said.
He cautioned the commission against a knee-jerk reaction. He said benches in general enhance public access. City staff, however, have said that allowing benches on the beach could raise issues of access under the Americans with Disabilities Act as well as possible opposition from the California Coastal Commission.
Benches have in fact been on the city’s beach for years, even though the Seal Beach Municipal Code apparently prohibited them. In the spring of this year, a complaint to City Hall prompted staff to issue a letter asking the residents who live on the beach to voluntarily remove their benches and picnic tables. The council later voted to proceed with removing the benches and installing volleyball posts on the beaches.
In July, beach area residents asked the City Council members to reconsider the decision to permanently remove privately-owned benches and tables from the beach.Ultimately, the council sent the issue to the Parks Commission for further review.
