Answer is the same as it ever was

Editor:

As I was quoted out of context in (the Daily Press’) recent article regarding the landmarking of the surf shop on the corner of Bay and Main (“Rise of the new Z-boys, Jan. 13-14, page 1), I would like to publicly state my position.

As a life-long resident of the Santa Monica Bay area, a 30-plus-year resident of Ocean Park, Samohi graduate (class of ‘69), local home owner, small business owner and board member of the Ocean Park Association, I have a vested interest in the future of our city.

One of the main points that Santa Monica residents repeatedly make is that the existing heights and scale must be maintained for Santa Monica to retain its essential historical quality as a classic California beach town.

Main Street is more than a key civic artery. It is the essence of the Ocean Park neighborhood and is in danger of being irrevocably altered to the point of being unrecognizable. Of course, the redevelopment of Main Street south of Ocean Park Boulevard, up until the new mixed-use building on the southeast corner of Marine Street, has been a good example of respectful redevelopment.

However, Main Street between Pico and Ocean Park boulevards has not been as fortunate and the block between Bay and Bicknell streets is undergoing a redevelopment that, if extrapolated out to the surrounding blocks, will render Main Street more suited to Irvine than the historical ambiance that Santa Monica residents have repeatedly stated they wish to preserve.

The proposed demolition of the Horizons West Surf Shop and adjacent artist studios would be the final blow in the consolidation of a vision that disrespects the expressed wishes of the residents of Santa Monica.

The Z-Boys phenomenon of the ’70s, while culturally and historically important, is only one component of the necessity of keeping the corner of Bay and Main intact, as is.

During the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, there were a number of small locally owned surf shops that are the diametric opposite of the multi-national corporate stores on the Third Street Promenade — Quicksilver and Rip Curl.

The last standing hard-core surf shop in Santa Monica is Horizons West and it is a direct link back more than 30 years to the Select Surf Shop, Jeff Ho/Zephyr and the indigenous beach culture that is a major component of our city’s history.

In addition, Main Street used to be internationally known for the studios of prominent artists: Sam Francis, James Turrell, William Wegman and others, including Richard Diebenkorn, whose universally acclaimed Ocean Park series was painted in his studio on Main Street.

The last remaining individual artist’s studio on Main Street is behind Horizons West — the studio of John Baldessari, arguably the most influential art educator of the past 50 years. The whole building on the corner of Bay and Main streets is important in maintaining the real history of Santa Monica as a low-rise intimate beach town that stands in stark contrast to the blatantly corporate Third Street Promenade.

While I applaud the intention to build a low-density LEEDS building, it is more suited to a purely residential street and that building it on the corner of Bay and Main streets will destroy a vital part of Santa Monica’s living history.

Jacob Samuel
Santa Monica



City Hall can’t walk the walk

Editor:

As I follow the daily exploits of my hometown in the Daily Press online, I was truly excited that the City Council finally did something progressive and banned smoking in public, basically everywhere, but perhaps in the middle of an intersection.

Returning to Santa Monica last weekend, I was disappointed that no one seems to be enforcing the ban. As my wife and I walked on the Third Street Promenade, we encountered more smokers than I can remember, including one guy smoking a big stogie outside Yankee Doodles.

How about some signage on the promenade citing the law and letting people they’re breaking it? Sadly, from the ban on homeless sleeping in doorways to public feeding to preferential parking zones, Santa Monica seems good at passing laws, just not enforcing them.

Ron Yukelson
Santa Monica