Judge Bars Charging for Volleyball

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Thursday blocked the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals’ bid to charge for seats at the upcoming Hermosa Beach Open.

In the latest round in a battle over the propriety of charging for use of the state’s public beaches, Judge Robert O’Brien said promoters may not sell seats to the tournament, which is scheduled for July 25-27 near the Hermosa Beach Pier.

The judge’s ruling follows a state Coastal Commission ruling in May that bars charging admission to any event held on a public beach between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

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The commission’s ruling was prompted by what its executive director, Peter Douglas, has called a “growing concern” over access to beach and parking areas being usurped in recent years by volleyball tournaments, water skiing and surfing contests, music festivals and other events.

A case in point: Last year’s Hermosa Beach Open, where 100% of the seats were sold. It was the first Los Angeles-area beach volleyball tournament to charge general admission, and Douglas has called full-paid seating an experiment that failed.

The association, which organizes and promotes the men’s professional volleyball tour, said in court papers that it would lose $150,000 if it could not charge for seats to this year’s Hermosa Beach event, which doubles as the U.S. championships.

Jim Evans, the association’s attorney, said an appeal of Thursday’s ruling remains an option. “We don’t know what we’ll do,” he said.

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The association claimed a similar $150,000 loss when it was barred from selling tickets to its tournament in mid-June, which had been scheduled for Manhattan Beach, immediately north of Hermosa Beach.

That tournament, however, ended up in Hermosa Beach because a grass-roots local group, the South Bay Coastal Defense Alliance, had filed suit protesting the effects in Manhattan Beach of noise and traffic linked to the tournament.

The alliance was not involved in Thursday’s court action, which stemmed from a suit filed June 27 by the association against the Coastal Commission.

Nonetheless, Donley Falkenstien, the 37-year-old writer who heads the alliance, did not disguise his glee over O’Brien’s decision.

“The last few weeks we’ve just been coasting--and laughing,” Falkenstien said. “We’re happy. We’re very excited.”