Beach Residents Assail Removal of Game Courts

State officials served residents of Ventura’s pricey Pierpont area with an unwelcome surprise Wednesday by knocking down privately constructed volleyball courts on San Buenaventura State Beach.

Without warning, the state Parks and Recreation Department decided to uproot the volleyball poles after a resident complained that the courts were attracting unsavory people who caroused on the beach and had “sex in the sand,” officials said.

The move netted an irate response from other residents of the beachfront neighborhood.

“It’s just a nightmare,” said Karen Biedebach, 25, who helped her parents build a court at the end of Waterbury Lane 10 years ago. “I am very, very, very angry.”

Biedebach said she had invited several friends to a volleyball party planned for Wednesday night--unaware that the state was going to demolish the wooden volleyball posts early that day.

Four people from the state Parks and Recreation Department and the city of Ventura cruised the public beach in a tractor, knocking down illegal structures along the two-mile stretch between Ventura Harbor and Ventura Pier, said Jeff Price, chief ranger for the state’s Channel Coast District.

Price said no need was seen to notify residents of the action because the structures were illegally built on public land.

In fact, he said, the agencies would like to find the owners and bill them for the $100 cleanup operation.

Four volleyball courts, a piece of pipe probably used for tetherball and some makeshift wooden forts were removed, he said.

Two months ago, the city of Ventura cleared away some of the volleyball courts on a 40-foot-wide city right-of-way that runs parallel to the state-owned beach, said Ann Prinz, code enforcement officer for the city. Three complaints had been lodged, Prinz said.

But some people wouldn’t give up.

On Wednesday, city and state crews for the third time removed a court near Weymouth Lane, Price said.

They also recorded identification numbers on four catamarans that the state plans to remove from the beach, Price said. He said an attempt would be made to trace the owners and notify them first.

Price said private structures on the public beach have proliferated in recent months. A resident’s phone call brought the situation to the attention of park rangers four weeks ago, officials said.

The caller said the volleyball courts attracted people who littered, drank beer and bothered residents, sometimes using areas near the courts for illegal camping, Price said.

“Somebody called and said, ‘You know, there’s sex in the sand. There’s illegal camping, and the volleyball courts are at the core of all problems.’ ”

Price said he does not agree that volleyball is the root of the evil, but he said clearing away dunes to build courts makes the sand unstable and can cause it to blow into back yards and houses. The dunes also provide a barrier in the winter from high tides, he said.

Also, he said, people should not monopolize state land for private structures. He encouraged volleyball players to use the 18 courts the state has built in the two-mile stretch.

“The state beach is for the enjoyment of everyone in California and not for the exclusive enjoyment of anyone,” Price said.

Tanya Beers, 24, who lives on Belfast Lane, said the removal of a court near her house was “too restrictive.”

“One of the reasons we live here and pay such high prices is to live on the beach and enjoy ourselves,” Beers said.

Biedebach said she had played games on her court with tourists from throughout Southern California and questioned the wisdom of removing any recreational area.

“Maybe,” she said, “they want to make Ventura like Bakersfield by the sea.”