Council draws a line in the surf

Noaki Schwartz

NEWPORT BEACH -- In a coastal city where surfing is as commonplace as

baseball, City Council members voted Tuesday to limit the number of surf

competitions because of concerns about trash and traffic.

The council, without a word of discussion, banned competitions on

Memorial Day and from June 15 through Sept. 10 -- the heavy tourist

periods. It also limited the number of contests to eight per year along

the most popular stretch of beach, between 54th and 58th streets, near

the northwestern part of the city.

It will be a blow to young, ambitious surfers, said Duke Edukas,

co-owner of Surfside Sports, a local shop that sponsors several annual

contests

“The beach is our baseball field,” Edukas said. “It’s that much a part

of kids’ lives here. It will really hurt the kids in our community. It’s

a really healthy lifestyle and keeps kids out of trouble.”

Since 1997, Newport Beach has seen the number of requests for surf

contests double from seven to 14. With about 150 entries, the competitions are small and don’t draw the media attention generated by

international contests like Sunday’s Bluetorch Pro 2000 in Huntington

Beach, said Melissa Adams, of Newport Beach’s community services

department.

Before the meeting, Councilman Tod Ridgeway explained that the city

constantly struggles with finding a balance between maintaining public

access and minimizing the impact on beachfront property owners. Some

local residents have complained that participants are noisy, careless and

use their backyards for water or as toilets.

“We have about seven miles of ocean front and Huntington has 10 to 11

miles, and they don’t have residential adjacent,” Ridgeway said.

He added that the city is left to clean up the trash and control the

crowds if they get out of hand.

However, according to Newport Beach Police Sgt. Mike McDermott and

Dave Niederhaus, the city’s general service director, the competitions

are not a problem -- yet.

“Nothing has gotten out of hand like in Huntington Beach,” McDermott

said. “Calls are about illegally parked cars, not alcohol.”

While Niederhaus agreed that the city is caught in a balancing act

between the public and residents, surfers are usually very respectful of

the beaches. Event sponsors pay the city and often volunteer to clean up,

he said.

“It’s probably more beachfront property owners saying ‘I don’t want

more people to come to my area of the public beach,’ ” he said. “Right

now, it isn’t a big problem. But next year we could have 15 to 20

sponsors apply for competitions.”

Scott Moreland, a surf coach for Newport Harbor High School and a city

surfing instructor for 30 years, said the limits are unfair and will only

hurt the community’s children. Many local surfers who are now

semiprofessionals got their start at these contests, he said.

“It’s nice to have the contests in your own backyard,” Moreland said.

“When you’re surfing your own break, you tend to do better. These

contests inspire confidence, discipline and responsibility.”