This summer, a Malibu breach scene

The summer beach party scene could be coming to an end in Malibu for a brigade of Hollywood B-listers like Sean Stewart, Jonathan Silverman and Nicky Hilton.

And not just because summer is almost over.

Malibu leaders are rolling up the welcome mats at three corporate-financed celebrity party houses that regular beach residents complain have clogged streets, created noise problems and caused paparazzi to swarm over the sand.

“We’ve had 26 parties at the house next to us. About half of them have been major, major parties with hundreds of people. It’s almost been like a takeover,” said resident Renny Shapiro. “We had to cancel many activities we planned for the summer.”

Shapiro lives on Malibu Beach, next to what is now known internationally as the Polaroid Beach House. A few houses in the other direction is the LG Beach House. Nearby Carbon Beach has been home this summer to the Silver Spoon Beach House.

The companies rented the mansions from their owners for the summer and are using them to promote products by linking them to hot young celebrities. And the celebs seem more than happy to indulge themselves with free food, drinks and gifts -- and indulge paparazzi by showing off their tans and bikinis.

Marketing companies get an elite beach-side venue to show off -- and have celebs photographed next to -- their latest flat-screen TVs, jewelry and other products.

The resulting photos and videos of the young and the beautiful partying have appeared in magazines, on television and on show business gossip blogs around the world.

There’s Paris Hilton relaxing on an oversize beach pillow with her tiny dog, Cinderella. Carmen Electra ceremoniously removing her wrap to capture some rays near the surf’s edge. Jason Davis (grandson of former studio boss Marvin Davis) walking out of a beach house, tanning lotion spread on his stomach in the outline of a happy face. A bevy of underwear-clad beauties, their faces obscured by flying goose-down feathers as they engage in a wild pillow fight inside a living room.

But behind the scenes, city officials contend, there are noise, illegally parked cars blocking driveways and fire hydrants, and seemingly nonstop action.

One party at the Polaroid house -- the one at which the models had their pillow fight -- is said to have lasted 22 hours. And residents say organizers had to borrow a neighbor’s vacuum to clean up the feathers. After things were tidy, guests returned to the living room for a 1:30 a.m. round of karaoke, neighbors said.

Beach house operators dispute that their parties are a public problem. They argue they are following the law and that residents are exaggerating the nuisance factor.

“I think a lot of the residents on the beach are making themselves so worked up that they’re not looking at the big picture,” said Jessica Meisel, whose marketing firm, Fingerprint Communications, runs the Polaroid Beach House. “We never had one police officer come to the house the entire summer.”

Nonetheless, city officials are drawing up an ordinance that would limit corporate beach house operations in the future.

Writing the ordinance will be a delicate matter, in large part because many Malibu homes are -- as the real estate agents like to say -- “an entertainer’s dream,” with ocean views, infinity pools and sprawling grounds. And many full-time residents do like to party.

The goal is to regulate corporate gatherings while still allowing boisterous weddings, summer barbecues, bar mitzvahs and sweet-16 parties.

“We don’t want to infringe on personal rights” of residents, Malibu City Manager Jim Thorsen said.

At City Hall, at least, there is widespread agreement that the “houses” are out of control. That’s in contrast to last year, when inaugural beach houses were operated on a smaller scale.

“It’s awful. It’s the constant day-in and day-out intrusion by a rude group of people,” Malibu City Councilman Andy Stern said. “The valets, the drunk people on the beach, people crossing private property. The daily barrage and noise has just worn people down.”

For a while, beachfront residents looked the other way. When the parties began increasing in frequency, they started complaining to city officials.

“There’s constant parking activity, constant paparazzi, trash piling up. They’re simply running a commercial enterprise in a residential area,” Stern said of the three houses operated by marketing firms.

The houses are expected to close down by Labor Day, when their lease agreements are up and the summer season is considered over.

The relatively temporary nature of the houses has stymied Malibu officials’ attempts to shut them down. The procedure for investigating and prosecuting alleged zoning code violations is clunky and slow.

“By the time we get to code enforcement, they’re out of there,” Stern said of the partyers.

Beach house operators suggest that their parties have been a plus for the city.

“The city of Malibu should be happy at the property values we’re raising. It’s definitely better for them to be known internationally,” said Meisel, who plans to return the $30-million Polaroid house to owner John Garcia on Sept. 1.

Meisel, who has been photographed mingling with celebrities at the Polaroid house, said city officials are wrong to blame her house or its guests for this summer’s problems.

“I think the city is confused at what a commercial property is. Other [beach] houses had brands strewn through the house, banners, red carpeting, a press wall. Not one of those things ever happened at my house,” Meisel said.

The Polaroid house is outfitted with specialty furniture and Polaroid wall TVs. Celebrities are photographed with these products visible in the background.

“My job is to create a buzz around a brand,” Meisel said.

The LG house is likewise furnished with the latest in LG electronics, including a 71-inch plasma high-definition TV and kitchen and laundry appliances. Valet parkers and professional chefs are available for film and TV production companies looking for wrap party venues and celebrity events such as actress Hayden Panettiere’s recent 18th birthday.

The Silver Spoon house seems the most overtly commercial of the bunch. It’s been booked for private celebrity parties, such as Jessica Simpon’s recent 27th-birthday party (reportedly cut short by a paparazzi invasion), a 22nd-birthday celebration for Ashley Tisdale and a get-together for Tori Spelling and her husband, Dean McDermott.

It also is the site of hosts’ “gifting events” -- swag parties -- where celebrities have been spotted picking up sportswear (Bijou Phillips), lotions and sunscreens (Molly Simms) and cellphones (Brooke Shields).

The Silver Spoon’s Melissa Lemer could not be reached for comment Friday. But she has insisted to city officials that her events have been problem-free and told residents she intends to return next summer.

Thorsen, the city manager, said that might not happen if officials adopt the ordinance limiting commercial beach house activities.

“We’re in the preliminary stages. Our city attorney is looking at what changes we need in the existing ordinance or whether we should create a new one,” he said.

Shapiro, the longtime Malibu Road resident, said she would be glad to see an end to what she described as the “exploitation” of Malibu.

She said she and her businessman husband have had to flee to a home in the mountains to escape the hundreds of partyers next door.

“I’m not against change,” she said. “I’m looking forward to positive change.”

bob.pool@latimes.com