Private Picnic Tables on Public Beaches Perturbs City

Should beachfront residents be allowed to plant picnic tables in the sand?

After several heated meetings on the topic, the answer has eluded Seal Beach city leaders, who opted Monday to put the question to the city’s Parks and Recreations Commission.

For the residents who live along the boardwalk, the collection of roughly a dozen randomly scattered picnic tables and volleyball nets are part of a longstanding and quaint tradition that add to Seal Beach’s quirky and family-friendly vibe. For others, including city officials, the practice raises sticky questions about liability, maintenance and the rights of residents to stake claims on public property using lawn furniture.

The issue has stirred up strong emotions in the community where some see efforts to remove the benches as an attack on a way of life.

“The use of benches on Seal Beach has been a charm of Seal Beach for 40-plus years,” said Seal Beach resident Don Rounds.

He scoffed at concerns that the picnic tables and benches would lead to further encroachment onto the public beaches.

Encroachment is really a non-issue, he said, noting that it has never been a problem in the past.

Among the handful of residents who spoke out on the issue, Arlene Rees was the only opponent of the benches.

“I am definitely anti-benches,” said Rees, a longtime Seal Beach resident.

The pro-bench crowd makes it “sound like without the benches, the beach was less fun,” she said.

With the salty sea air, a beach blanket picnic is a true feast, she said. And it’s a tradition that doesn’t involve a handful of people staking parts of the beach as their own, she said.

Under the urging of Councilwoman Ellery Deaton, the council opted to let the Parks and Recreations Commission hash out the issue following a public workshop to gather input on the matter. Some options the commission may consider at its September meeting include allowing for the benches with encroachment permits, removing the tables, installing city-owned public tables and beach volleyball courts, or allowing people to donate and dedicate tables and benches for public use.

Darin Denos, a 46-year Seal Beach resident, urged the city to find a way to keep the picnic tables.

“It’s been a wonderful benefit to our community. It’s important to us. It’s important to our community, and I think it’s important to our city.”