By Kevin Herrera
Daily Press Staff Writer

CITY HALL — Despite threats of a lawsuit by six beachfront property owners, the City Council on Thursday unanimously approved plans to turn the historic Marion Davies estate into the city’s first public beach club.

The project, which will be funded primarily through a $28 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation, will preserve and restore existing portions of the estate while adding elements to benefit the public, including public meeting rooms, an expanded beach house, pool, cafe and expanded areas for beach activities.

The move was hailed as a major victory for residents, many of whom staged a “beach party” rally earlier

in the evening on the lawn of City Hall, complete with volleyball, beach balls and surfboards, one of which was covered with more than 1,000 signatures in support of the beach club.

Council’s approval was also seen as a victory for those trying to create more public access to California’s “Gold Coast” — a term used in the 1920s to describe the stretch of beach on which the Davies estate is situated. The area was renowned for its opulent mansions and the lavish lifestyle of their owners, as well as for the racial and religious discrimination that pervaded its private beach clubs.

“For generations to come, this club will stand as a monument to the foresight and vision of the City of Santa Monica, the State of California, the community and the Annenberg Foundation,” said Joel Brand, chair of Friends of 415 PCH, which organized the rally. “This club is going to be a beacon for our coastline.”

There was concern among supporters that if Council did not approve the project, the delay could lead to Annenberg pulling out, taking their money with them. Without the foundation’s backing, many felt the project, located at 415 Pacific Coast Highway, would have failed.

Former Mayor Michael Feinstein was part of the working group that initially developed the project in 1997.

“We have been working on this for nearly 10 years, and it seemed that every time we were ready to begin, the funding fell through,” Feinstein said, following a game of volleyball. “I think this project is going to be a tremendous benefit for the city.”

The 5.5-acre beachfront estate was built by William Randolph Hearst in the late 1920s for actress and mistress Marion Davies. It was designed by architect Julia Morgan, who also created Hearst Castle in San Simeon. The original estate had 100 rooms, guesthouses, tennis courts, an elaborately decorated swimming pool and a dog kennel.

The property was sold in the 1940s to a private party and converted to a hotel and beach club. The state purchased the property in 1960. Under an agreement with the state, City Hall leased it to a private beach club, the Sand & Sea Club, and later operated it as a seasonal public beach facility.

Badly damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, all structures except the beach cafe have been “red-tagged,” or designated as unsafe to occupy.

Following an extensive community planning process, the council in 1999 approved a re-use plan that determined the site’s potential as an important public resource, leading to the current development proposal.

Meanwhile, some residents living along PCH are concerned that redeveloping the estate, complete with banquet halls and a kitchen, is not only a violation of Proposition S, which limits food-serving facilities on the beach, but would also create more traffic congestion, creating the potential for deadly car accidents on an already dangerous stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway.

Resident Jonathan Ornstein and an attorney representing members of the Palisades Beach Road Property Owners Association pleaded with the council to enter into a contractual agreement regarding the operation of the beach club.

Ornstein said he was fearful that the project would become “a white elephant” that would require millions of dollars to keep afloat. In that event, he foresees the council voting to remove certain elements of the project in order to save money. Ornstein is most concerned about security at the site, having previously been threatened in his own home by an intruder.

Ornstein also wants the council to agree to putting in a traffic signal on PCH in front of the beach club to protect motorists visiting the site. Without one, he fears people will be killed in traffic accidents.

Without a contract, Ornstein said he will have to take legal action.

“I don’t want people to have the impression that we’re just some wealthy landowners who are opposed to this project,” said Ornstein. “I support it. I love the idea of the site being rehabilitated. However, I’m concerned about the safety of my family and the safety of the public.”

Both Ornstein and the property owners association have said they are prepared to challenge the accuracy of the project’s environmental impact report, as well as its compliance with Prop. S.

Council members said they could not enter into a contractual agreement with the property owners because the city requires flexibility in the operation of the beach club. However, the council did show signs of good faith, holding the first reading of a law that would make it easier for residents to sue City Hall if projects failed to meet conditions of their operating permits. The law must be read again for final approval.

The council also instructed staff to immediately file an application with the California Department of Transportation to install a traffic signal at the site. So far, city staff has had discussions with Cal-Trans, and there is word that a signal is close to being installed, but no formal application has been filed.