Stairway to revenue: Surf City to sell, place ads on pier steps

Cash-strapped Huntington Beach is introducing advertising on the steps of its iconic pier, a year after agreeing in May to put ads on lifeguard towers.

Mayor Casey McKeon has repeatedly said that the city needs to find creative ways to raise revenue; Surf City faces a $15 million structural deficit for fiscal year 2026-27.

On Tuesday night, the council voted 5-2 to approve a one-year pilot program for pier stairs advertising via removable wraps. McKeon, Mayor Pro Tem Butch Twining, Council members Don Kennedy, Pat Burns and Gracey Van Der Mark voted in favor of the program, with Council members Chad Williams and Andrew Gruel dissenting.

The advertisements will go on the vertical “riser” part of the steps, not across the tread. The city will amend its contract with Huntington Beach-based Rio Media, which handles the lifeguard tower advertisements, to include the pier steps as well.

The wraps themselves would be provided by another local business, Sticky Fingers Design Studio, Twining said.

Twining and Kennedy introduced the agenda item at the June 16 meeting, at which the council agreed to ask staff to research the proposal. Some residents claimed such a move would be “pimping out” the city in favor of making thousands of dollars from businesses.

“You read some of the commentary online about our beautiful, iconic stairs,” Kennedy said at that meeting. “Let’s be realistic. The pier is iconic, the stairs are gray pieces of concrete ... What we’re trying to do is incrementally raise positive vibes about the city. I think this is going to be a positive for tourists; maybe the locals might not like it.

“Initially, when I thought about Pacific City when that was going to get built, I was happy with a hole in the ground. Now, I love Pacific City. So, change comes.”

While the lifeguard tower advertisements were estimated to bring in $1 million a year, the pier step advertising is smaller in scale. Twining said he was given an estimate by Rio that companies could be charged $5,000 to $7,000 for a single advertisement, a temporary design that would go on the pier steps.

The city would receive 75% of that revenue. Ten advertisements a year would potentially mean tens of thousands of dollars for the city.

“We are primarily going to give priority to local events such as the air show, the U.S. Open [of Surfing], Darker Waves, the rodeo … but it could extend beyond that,” Twining said at the June 16 meeting. “The primary target will be local vendors.”

Assistant City Manager Marissa Sur told the council the city would not be liable any potential risks associated with the stair wraps, assuring that risk would be transferred to the contracting party.

“All of our contracts have an indemnification and insurance requirement, as does this,” City Atty. Mike Vigliotta confirmed. “We will beef that up to make sure that in the event that someone trips and falls, and it’s because of the advertising, that the company would be responsible. That’s not to say that the city won’t get sued, but we’ll transfer the lawsuit to the company at that point.”

Williams still voiced concerns that litigious people would go for the deepest pockets in the event of a lawsuit, blaming the city if they face planted while simultaneously walking up the stairs and focusing on the advertisements. Twining responded that people wouldn’t even be able see the ads unless they were standing back from the staircase.

“Just vote against it, Chad, it’s OK,” Twining said. “It’s not gong to hurt my feelings ... you’re still my buddy.”

Williams did just that, along with Gruel, but the proposal still passed.

“I’m not trying to throw water on it,” Williams said. “I’m just concerned about the liability aspect of it. I love you, Butch.”