Has anyone been down on the Santa Monica Pier lately? It looks like the entire venue has suddenly become one big billboard for the restaurant at the pier’s end.
Even from the ramp at Colorado Boulevard and Ocean Avenue, the large bunker-like structures at the western end seriously compromise what was once a stunning vista.
The Santa Monica Harbor Patrol Office is in the eastern bunker. Mariasol Restaurant is on the western side with the bright yellow awning and “Mariasol” sig-nage affixed to the rooftop parapet two floors above the main deck.
So where are the stewards of the pier? An army of city staff and numerous city commissions and boards exercise control over various aspects of the pier’s operation.
The Planning Commission OK’d enclosing Mariasol’s open rooftop public deck that has resulted in even more mass and bulk to impede the view in February of 1999.
The Landmarks Commission agreed with the Planning Commission and also said OK. Surprisingly, a couple of weeks ago, it even approved unauthorized, post-facto changes to approved plans by Mariasol’s owners including an encroachment on the public deck, installation of doors limiting public access and nonopening windows. (An appeal of approval of the non-operable windows will be heard by the City Council on May 20).
The Pier Restoration Corp. is a nonprofit public benefit agency controlled, financed and supervised by the city, whose mission it is to oversee pier operations. The PRC also approved Mariasol’s changes and even amended its lease because of the enclosed deck.
With the addition to Mariasol, the Harbor Patrol Office’s view to the West has been severely compromised. It will probably only be a matter of time before the city asks for and receives permission to add another level onto this structure, too.
All of this is just a drop in the bucket compared to the real problems on the pier.
Those in charge have turned the pier and its ocean vistas into a carnival midway, just like the Third Street Promenade. A friend and his date visiting from the Midwest ventured onto the pier to see the sunset last week. They said there were so many performers and vending carts, they could barely get to the railing, let alone enjoy the view.
For years, the pier has had a reputation for being a gang hangout, especially at night. Public safety in and around the pier became national news with the Fourth of July shoot-out between the Santa Monica Police and a wanted felon in the Playland Arcade two years ago. This followed numerous incidents involving fights between gang-bangers drawn to parties hosted by promoters in the now closed Boathouse.
The beaches and area around the pier share an even more fearsome reputation. There is a lengthy and ample history of crime including robberies, rapes and assaults.
Complaints about the transients, vagrants and alcoholics that congregate around the pier and camp on the beaches continue. On April 13, a transient tried to molest a 12-year-old boy in a pier rest-room. The boy got away and the perpetrator was arrested by Santa Monica Police within minutes of it being reported, according to news reports.
On top of it all, the pier loses about $400,000 annually. It appears that even with city staff and all those boards and commissions there’s a lot that still isn’t right.
The announcement of a Bubba Gump Shrimp Restaurant on the Boathouse site is a step in the right direction. The pier needs a reasonably priced, family style restaurant or two. Bubba Gump owned by Viacom, the parent company of Paramount Pictures, should do a good job and fill a need. Now, if we could also get a couple small cafes...
However, the real goal should be to clean up the pier and make it suitable for one and all.
To start, I’d cut way back on the performers and the vending carts. They do nothing to enhance the seaside experience. The swap meet atmosphere reeks of cheapness and tawdriness. I’d also increase security in and around the pier.
Members of the PRC in the past have been critical of the SMPD’s drunk driver checkpoints near the pier during summer holidays. But this is exactly the kind of proactive police work that tells potential troublemakers to fly straight or suffer the consequences. (Bill Bauer is a longtime Santa Monica resident and a freelance writer.)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 2, 2003. Read the original PDF.