A movement is growing along the Esplanade, South Redondo Beach’s oceanside street, and it’s being ushered in with blue shirts.
The members of a Facebook group known as “Keep the Esplanade Beautiful” have banded together over the course of the last three years to maintain the beauty of a much-appreciated street in a desirable stretch of Redondo Beach.
The organization was spearheaded by Joan Irvine, a proud resident and Leadership Redondo graduate.
“My whole career has been sales and marketing, so I was always traveling. When I moved here, I didn’t want this to become a bedroom community for me, so I met and connected with officials and people who are very involved in Redondo,” she said. “For the first time, I’m living in a community that’s small, Mayberry-type, and we’re trying to give something back.”
They’re trying to keep the Esplanade from becoming crappy. Literally. The street’s wide sidewalks and gorgeous view of the Pacific Ocean make it a popular dog-walking path, and despite the presence of city-supplied dog-waste bags, there are often smears of animal waste along the sidewalk.
“And it wasn’t just poop and urine, but cigarette butts and people leaving trash,” Irvine said, noting that a number of fellow South Redondo residents would complain that the city wasn’t cleaning the sidewalks enough.
“There’s only so much we can do as civilians; we can’t go out there with hoses and start cleaning,” Irvine said.
But they can raise awareness. Irvine’s Facebook group has 480 members, and looks to add more with the introduction of shirts reading “Helping keep the Esplanade beautiful.”
Those shirts are being sold at Village Runner, 1811 S. Catalina Ave., for $5, as part of a partnership with the company, which regularly leads runs along the Esplanade.
“On Facebook, we’re telling people to wear the shirts, adopt a block and volunteer ten minutes a week to pick up garbage,” Irvine said.
The city has responded. Last June’s city budget talks resulted in a $130,000 appropriation to fund sidewalk cleaning on both Artesia Boulevard and along the Esplanade — half of that, based on discussion from the council, is going toward the Esplanade.
Another $20,000 was appropriated at those same June budget discussions, funding the construction of a dog-walking path along the beach-facing side of the public wall along the Esplanade.
The idea for a dog walking path along the Esplanade came from a public suggestion, according to District 1 councilman Jeff Ginsburg. Through staff, Ginsburg learned that the property line between the city and Los Angeles County is about three to four feet off of the wall — potentially enough space for a dog walking path.
“Probably 60 percent or more of residents in District 1 own dogs,” said Ginsburg. “If there’s a path, people will probably use it — it’s not one of those things that you can force people to do, but providing it and providing dog drinking stations and doggy bags would probably provide enough of an enticement.”
There is no set date for the path’s construction, Ginsburg said, though he anticipates movement toward a pilot program to begin within six months.
“It’s our front yard, or our backyard,” Irvine said. “We have really different groups of people who use it for different reasons, have different visions and so we have to figure out how we can all work together to protect this beautiful resource.”
