THE COUNTY BUDGET CRISIS : County Gets Beaches Back, but With Stipulations

Los Angeles County may be on the brink of financial disaster, but it got its beaches back Friday. With a lot of strings attached.

Gov. Pete Wilson signed a bill turning over miles of shoreline to the county. It was, ironically, the same real estate whose management the county had abdicated to the state four months ago.

The reason given at the time was the county’s financial crisis--something that, if anything, has only gotten worse. But at least in part because of the relentless lobbying by Los Angeles County’s lifeguards, both houses of the Assembly passed by wide margins the bill deeding the beaches to the county.

Along with the state’s turning over title to the sand and surf, it also imposed major limitations designed to keep the beaches from being commercially developed--a reflection of some legislators’ distrust of what the desperate county Board of Supervisors might do if left unchecked.

The rules include returning control of the beaches to the state if any part of the deed restrictions are violated, and a $250,000 cap on non-commercial projects. The county would also have to pay the state $1.5 million, in addition to losing the beaches, if it violates the terms of the bill.

In return is a three-year commitment by the state to pay the county $1.5 million annually to help maintain the beaches. That will allow the county to rehire the 91 lifeguards it laid off.

Assemblyman Steven Kuykendall (R-Rancho Palos Verdes) said the return of the beaches was a victory for the county and the turnover to the state should never have happened in the first place.

“The beach property of Los Angeles, it’s our trademark,” he said. “Part of the whole aura of what is good about Los Angeles is that beachfront.”

Environmental groups said they fear that the county will now begin a push to dismantle the legislation so the new county property can be developed.

“The concern is that the county can come back next year and try to amend those restrictions,” said Laura Svendsgaard, president of the Friends of California Parks, which worked to keep the beaches in state hands.

“We got skunked,” she said.

The story began last May when the county, citing dire financial needs, said it could no longer maintain and provide lifeguards for the eight state-owned beaches along the Los Angeles County coastline.

Although the state owned the beaches, county maintenance crews and lifeguards had taken care of them for more than 40 years. But the county, citing a $4.3-million annual cost and failure to obtain reimbursement from the state, gave up responsibility for their safety and maintenance.

In the process, 91 county jobs were eliminated from the ranks of lifeguards and beach maintenance workers. Soon afterward, the lifeguard union began a campaign to reclaim its jobs.

Assemblywoman Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey) has been given much of the credit for inserting provisions in the bill designed to block development and to prevent the county from giving the beaches back to the state when funds are lacking.

However, Bowen said she is still worried about the beaches, given the financial problems that seem to constantly beset the county.