Drain Strains Life on Strand

HERMOSA BEACH — More than three years after heavy rain from fierce winter storms flooded streets, overflowed inadequate storm drains and swamped several businesses and homes, the downtown is getting a new storm drain system.

But the long-awaited project, which will run under the heart of the business district and will replace a decades-old system, comes at an awkward time: the beginning of the lucrative tourist season at one of the South Bay’s most popular beaches.

During the first couple weeks of construction of the $1.6-million system, crews have dug up portions of the beachfront walkway, parked massive steam shovels and cranes on the sand and closed a portion of the beach south of the pier where the drain will dump into the ocean.

“I just couldn’t believe it when I looked at the pier head,” said William Fowler, executive vice president of the Hermosa Beach Chamber of Commerce. “I thought it was World War III.”

Businesses Affected

Though most have accepted the construction as a necessary disruption, some restaurants along The Strand report business is down, several merchants have complained that valuable parking spaces have been lost to construction, and some regular beachgoers bemoan the loss of a popular meeting place at the base of the pier.

In an effort to help businesses cope with the disruption, City Manager Gregory Meyer will recommend to the City Council next week that the city sell validation stamps to merchants at a reduced rate during the construction period. The city sells the stamps to merchants who in turn give them to customers for free parking in downtown lots.

In addition, Meyer said he will suggest that the city open a temporary parking lot for employees of downtown businesses on a vacant lot on Manhattan Avenue near Pier Avenue so downtown lots on Hermosa Avenue can be used by customers who might otherwise have parked on the street.

The city has already provided the vacant city-owned site of the former Biltmore hotel on The Strand for parking and storage of equipment so construction crews will not block street parking spaces.

“This is the kind of thing that happens once every 50 years,” Meyer said. “We are going through a major rehab of the city’s support system.”

Lifeguards and police report that fewer people have been congregating on The Strand near the construction site, but they said there has been no visible decline in the number of people using the beach. Police said there have been no arrests or injuries but life guards have complained that children have been playing in the ditches.

“We’ve had to go down in the holes and get some kids out of them, but the construction hasn’t affected the overall activity on the beach,” said lifeguard Jim McDonald. “People are still coming to the beach.”

1,800 Feet of Pipeline

In the next few weeks, construction crews will move from the beach and The Strand and begin placing pipeline under Pier Avenue between the pier and Hermosa Avenue, north under Hermosa Avenue to 16th Street, and under Beach Drive between 10th and 13th streets. In all, 1,800 feet of pipeline will be laid.

The project is scheduled to be finished by the end of next month, although unanticipated delays could push the completion date past the Fourth of July holiday weekend, city officials said.

“I am still optimistic that we will make the deadline,” said Anthony Antich, the city’s director of public works. “I am just thrilled that it is finally under way.”

The storm drain system is being built by Los Angeles County, which is paying for all but $350,000 of the cost. The remainder is being paid by the city with federal Community Development Block Grant money, city officials said.

County officials said it is the first county-built storm drain system in the downtown area. City officials said the existing system, which is a collection of small basins and pipes, was built before World War II.

“Everything has a roof or asphalt over it now,” Meyer said. “There is a real need for the drain.”

When the county approved the project last year, merchants and city and county officials worked together to draft a project proposal that Meyer said has minimized the disruption to downtown businesses and beachgoers.

Built Section by Section

The contractor, Edmond J. Vadnais Construction of Solano Beach, has agreed to work in segments--dividing the project into sections so that the entire downtown is not torn up at one time, Meyer said. Each segment will be repaved before the next section is excavated, he said.

The construction company also agreed to remove all equipment from the streets and beach during the Memorial Day weekend, when the Chamber of Commerce sponsors its annual street festival. Sections of the street that are still torn up at that time will be temporarily filled for the weekend.

“We get 100,000 people down here over the three-day weekend,” said Fowler. “We have to make sure that there are no safety hazards.”

If the project should extend into July, Vadnais will do the same during the Fourth of July weekend, city officials said.

While acknowledging that the timing of the project is bad for beach business, city officials said it would have cost as much as $370,000 to postpone construction until the end of the summer season in mid-September.

‘Legal Nightmare’

“Postponing it would have been a legal nightmare,” Meyer said. “The contract had been signed. We had approved the specifications and the awarding of the bid.”

Antich, the public works director, said the costs of delaying the project would have made it prohibitively expensive. He said the city is doing everything it can to keep construction on schedule and to help local businesses deal with the inconveniences.

“No matter when you do something like this, you are going to upset somebody,” he said. “The goal of the project is not to create problems. We are trying to solve a problem.”

Fowler said chamber officials were asked by the city whether they would rather have the new storm drain system put in now or in the fall. The chamber hosts another festival over the Labor Day weekend and plans to sponsor a beachfront music festival in October, making construction in the fall equally--if not more--undesirable.

Any Disruption a Problem

“We decided we want to give a boost to business in October, so we said, ‘Let’s just face it and take it right now and get it over with,’ “Fowler said. “The disruption of business to any of us at any time is a problem.”

Roslyn Robson, a spokeswoman for the county Public Works Department, said the county scheduled the project so construction along the beach would be finished by the end of May.

“We are trying to get off the beach as soon as possible,” Robson said. “But clearly the project is needed before the next storm season, and that has to be the most important consideration.”

If the project were delayed until the fall, Robson said the county Board of Supervisors would have to approve funding for it a second time because the new fiscal year begins in July. “It was budgeted for this year,” she said.

Most Complaints Minor

While inconvenienced, merchants seem to have accepted the project as a necessary disruption, city and chamber officials said. Most of the half-dozen or so complaints that the city’s Public Works Department has received at City Hall have been minor--such things as dust and dirt coming into stores, noisy construction crews and temporary parking inconveniences, city officials said.

Scott Ingell, who owns Scotty’s restaurant on The Strand, said business has been off about 10% since construction crews began digging up the beach and pavement in front of his restaurant. But like other merchants in the area, Ingell said he expects the drop-off to be temporary.

“I think they are doing a good job, all things considered,” he said.

Oscar Rodriguez, who manages Diana’s Mexican Food at the corner of Pier Avenue and The Strand, said the effect on business has been no worse than that of a windy or cold day at the beach.

“We are not happy about what they are doing, but we understand it,” he said.