by Kevin Cody
Parker Herriott, a relentless Hermosa Beach activist credited with blocking hotel development on the Hermosa Beach Strand, on the site of the former Biltmore Hotel, passed away last week at 86 from natural causes.
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Herriott led the fight against six, City Council-supported, general election ballot measures, asking voters to approve development on city-owned property at 14th Street and The Strand. The 1983 ballot measure called for a 75-foot-high, 175 room hotel. Finally, in 1992, Parker helped qualify a voter initiative to make the former Biltmore Hotel site a park. It passed overwhelmingly, 6,772 to 4,106.
A condition of the initiative was that no structures could be built on the property. Herriott argued the restriction included park benches, though the city now allows them.
A memorial service for Herriott will be held Monday, April 21, at 2:30 at Greenhill Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes. A community celebration of Herriott is being planned for a date to be determined, in Noble Park, named after developer Joe Noble, who made a significant contribution to the park after the open space ballot measure was approved. ER
Parker indeed was relentless in his fight for open space at 14th Street and The Strand in Hermosa Beach. I was honored (with many others) to help him for most of a decade on that endeavor. There will always be a park there, and Parker’s determination and incentive will always be remembered for making that so. Thank You Parker. Rest in Peace.