City denies big events at Bruce's Beach
In two years, Juneteenth celebrations at Bruce's Beach Park have become an unofficial staple in Manhattan Beach.
But the key word there is “unofficial.”
City staffers have worked with organizers to ensure those celebrations and smaller ones, like sound healing sessions, went smoothly, despite a city rule prohibiting people from requesting permits to host gatherings that may require more than the park naturally has to offer, like amplified sound and portable toilets.
The City Council this week voted 4-1 to uphold that rule, which also excludes special event permitting at the Larsson and Eighth Street parkettes.
Manhattan Beach in 2018 revised the city's special event policy to create a process of reviewing requests and permitting for special events.
In that revision, the city also excluded Bruce's Beach Park and the parkettes from being reservable because there had been few-to-no requests for events at those sites, which are also in residential neighborhoods, Parks and Recreation Director Mark Leyman said during this week's meeting.
The council voted Tuesday night to keep the policy the same. Mayor Hildy Stern dissented.
Larger parks, such as Live Oak and Polliwog, remain open for folks to reserve for special events.
Since 2020, though, Bruce's Beach Park has gotten lots of attention — and an uptick in special events requests — because of renewed focus on the site's history, becoming a sacred space for some.
The first Juneteenth celebration there two years ago helped shed light on the Black couple, Willa and Charles Bruce, who, in the 1920s, ran a seaside resort for Black people on two parcels below the land that would become Bruce's Beach Park. The city used eminent domain to take that land, as well as the homes of others, whose properties were on the future parkland.
But last year, the state Legislature passed a law that allows Los Angeles County to deed the Bruces' former parcels to the couple's living descendants, a complex process that is underway.
There is, Leyman said Tuesday, currently a request for a Juneteenth event at Bruce's Beach for this year.
“Staff is evaluating the procedures to address special event requests and any other gatherings at city parks and parkettes,” city spokeswoman Jessica Vincent said by phone Wednesday. Right now, Vincent said, staffers are just reviewing outstanding requests to determine what protocols would be needed for any event at any park.