The vision and efforts of these characters in an open democratic process has had a huge influence on how our city has developed and how it continues to adapt to market pressures, both local and regional.
Because our long history precedes most regulatory codes, the city’s development pattern has been organic rather than planned, and has resulted in an eclectic mix of architecture, without exhibiting any specific identity or type. This has resulted in a charming and uniquely livable community, we confidently call the “best little beach city”.
In our more recent history, the focal point of our downtown, Pier Plaza, has been transformed into a wonderful public space, by merely vacating one street. The recent Pier Avenue streetscape project complements this gateway to our treasure — the wide city-owned beach.
Where do we go from here? From my vantage point I think we are going to continue to change and adapt in our own organic Hermosa way.
In planning and academic communities that study urban form and the future of America in the face of peak oil, climate change, water shortages, and other limits, the belief is that efficient and more condense urban development needs to replace the sprawling auto-dependent forms. This concept is expressed in buzz-words like: “smart growth”, “livable communities”, “transit-oriented development”, “infill development”, “sustainability”, “complete streets”, “road diets” etc.
Without intending to, compact villages like ours have become examples of these new visions and a model for others to emulate. Of course we also experience the frictions that go with higher density living and high levels of tourism, which support our economy. A good deal of our work goes into reducing these tensions and finding a better way.
To continue to improve upon while sustaining our cherished lifestyle, I believe we face the following challenges:
Aging infrastructure
The city continues to work on much needed street repaving projects. We have installed an innovative drainage and storm water system using infiltration as an alternative to draining to the sea.
A much bigger issue lurks beneath our streets: our sanitary sewer system (or as our former Public Works Director liked to call it, our “sand tubes”). Our sewer system is in critical condition. Failure to make needed repairs will result in an explosion of maintenance and legal costs, and hamper redevelopment or change. It’s important that we make fixing this and other aging infrastructure a high priority.
Revisioning our streets and rights of way
A planning commissioner once said you can summarize the planning issues in Hermosa Beach in three words: “parking, parking and parking.” This is probably still true. In our recent history, we have addressed this “progress” by building public parking lots, requiring more parking for new projects, and adopting parking codes more appropriate for suburbia than a dense beach city in an urban setting. We should start looking at lost opportunities that reside in the dedication of so much of our public and private space. Our walk-streets, the Strand and the Plaza are great examples that can be the catalyst for other visions.
We need to adopt better ways of getting around, to look at models of complete streets, road diets, traffic calming (traffic circles anyone?) and other ways to shift the emphasis, at least as reflected in our policies and codes, away from cars and parking toward alternatives such a bicycles, walking, neighborhood electric vehicles, and even transit.
We have already started to do this in small steps with wider sidewalks and shared bike lanes. Along with our neighboring cities, we are engaged in the South Bay Master Bike Plan and Vitality City initiative to improve the form and health of the community, thereby improving everyone’s quality of life.
Balancing differing visions
Hermosa residents and newcomers envision a tranquil environment conducive to raising a family, balanced with fun with locals in a friendly and vibrant business district. Local businesses hope to attract more visitors to support and grow their businesses. These two, distinct visions, although not necessarily mutually exclusive, will continue to be a source of conflict and controversy, and continue to frame policy debates. This is evident in the continuing debate over the acceptable level of night life in the downtown. Tough policy decisions, which would benefit from a mutual understanding of these differing visions, lie ahead.
Embracing change while preserving our charm
Hermosa Beach is not and cannot be isolated from pressures affecting the surrounding region. Development pressures have waned with the recession. However, there is a lot of pent up demand, and new opportunities will be created as developers acquire commercial properties at lower prices and funding starts to become available.
As in the past the Hermosa Beach needs to be diligent and pro-active in developing the necessary plans, and zoning regulations to respond to these pressures, while still accommodating new construction and limited growth.
Several key sites in the city are ripe for redevelopment. What happens on those sites will be critical in defining its character long into the future.
We should assist and encourage the right kinds of projects, but one can be sure our decision makers will provide the careful review and scrutiny needed to ensure that our charm and livability are not compromised solely for the sake of economic gains.
Sustainability
Hermosa Beach has clearly shown it’s commitment to the new sustainability movement, not just by joining it, but by taking a leadership role. This was sparked by a grass roots movement amongst our residents, which resulted in the creation of a Green Task Force, implementation of award-wining storm water infiltration projects on Pier Avenue and on the beach, and the initiation of programs to incent renewable energy projects, improve energy efficiency, and reduce pollution and waste.
The Green Task Force will soon be presenting a sustainability plan to the City Council that will provide a road map to improve community health and livability. The challenge ahead is to keep the momentum going and follow through with action.
It will be increasingly important to recognize our special role in protecting our sensitive shoreline and ocean resources and to be prepared for the long-term threats to our coastal areas posed by climate change, sea level rise and related effects.
Ken Robertson is the City of Hermosa Beach Community Development Director. ER
