This past week, Q-line asked: “How should city officials weigh the opinions of residents regarding the proposed redevelopment of the old Marion Davies Estate into a public beach club on the Pacific Coast Highway since the general public supports it but a handful of nearby residents of the property do not?”
Here are your responses: ✆ “It’s not a question of the local residents’ concerns about building the public beach club on PCH, it’s a matter of common sense. Such a project would cause havoc on an already overcrowded roadway, plus it would bring in even more undesirables from the outside areas. What are the powers-that-be thinking of? That’s the trouble right there. They’re not. All they see are dollar signs as usual.” ✆ “I assume a public beach club is a club in which public members can join with a more reasonable membership fee and less personal scrutiny than a private club. This is fine with me. Any club form is better than the construction of condos. Condo developers are always lurking in the background.” ✆ “The rich people that live in the area of the public beach club don’t want it. After all, that would get the public there, and most people there want their own private beach, not a public beach. I think we should go ahead and open it up to the public, and if those rich people don’t like it, they can move out.” ✆ “Why do you assume most Santa Monica residents want this beach club? Have we voted on it? I think it’s a bad idea. The location on PCH is fairly inaccessible, not really in the city, and quite dangerous, leaving the city open to liability issues. And will it become the next transient magnet? It’s minor claim as an historical site is part of Hollywood history, not Santa Monica’s. Furthermore, the stable structure is no longer there. Even with the grant, this would be a major and ongoing investment of money better used elsewhere.” ✆ “Forget a beach club. This is an old movie star’s home. It is a great opportunity for us to create a great movie museum. We have always had as many movie stars living here and movies made here as Hollywood did. We could get all sorts of movieland memorabilia dedicated to the Marion Davies Museum from local Hollywood celebrities and the studios. It could be really fantastic, and it’s close to the newly re-opened Getty Museum.” ✆ “The city’s going to build whatever it wants to build, but I think it’s a wonderful idea. The city can participate and most of the people can have a beautiful gem of a beach club, so I say go for it.” ✆ “City officials should treat the creation of a public beach house and entertainment venue as if the project were to be operated in their own backyard.The opinions of those most affected by this operation are very important. What size parties in the party house, and how many? Music, and if so, how loud? Late hours, and who is to enforce any curfew? The general opinions supporting this development may not live anywhere nearby, and thus will not risk having their dinners, their evenings or their sleep disturbed by large and possibly noisy or rowdy crowds. I am sure that if city officials lived next door they would say, ‘not in my back-yard.’” ✆ “This club is located in a residential neighborhood where there are more than a handful of people who would be affected by traffic, noise and crowds created by the public attending various events. Residents want assurances they would not be disturbed by the (events) suggested by the city. I’m sure if any of the planning commissioners lived close to the club, they also would be demanding some type of the restrictions that have been requested by the neighbors. It is unreasonable of the city not to listen to those people most affected by the plans.” ✆ “If you had over a $5 million investment in your home, wouldn’t you want to protect it? Has anyone driven on PCH at 5 p.m. or on an August weekend? The proposed signal light on PCH is another City Hall traffic disaster waiting to happen. The Annenberg Foundation gave $28 million to this project. Why? Now the State Parks Department is involved? Bobby Shriver serves on the State Parks board. Is there something odd about this connection? Who will benefit from a beach club? I bet most of the use will come from low-income people who are not from Santa Monica. Still, it’s better than a hotel or a Coney Island-like development.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 15, 2006. Read the original PDF.