On a recent weekend at Thousand Steps Beach, Laguna Beach Park Ranger Aureliano Becerra patrolled through the sand in the picturesque cove, encountering beachgoers with empty cans of hard seltzer littered around their towels.
After asking those in the group if they saw the 3-by-4-foot sign at the top of the staircase about alcohol being forbidden at the beach, he asked if there was more and for their cooler to be opened.
“It was full of beer and they also had three bottles of hard alcohol in there,” he said.
The incident is an anecdote about an increasing problem officials say they are seeing this summer in Laguna Beach; Becerra said he encounters similar scenarios as many as 20 times a day at beaches along the town’s seven miles of sand.
Beachgoers with alcohol are typically given citations, but sometimes interactions can lead to arrests. Associated costs can run in the hundreds or lead to other violations that can cost thousands of dollars, said Lt. Jason Farris, who oversees the Police Department’s park ranger program.
“Alcohol is the trigger for everything else,” said Park Ranger James Kirk-Johnson, Becerra’s partner and a former Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department officer. “If people are intoxicated, it leads to bad issues: swimmers in distress, verbal disturbances, drunk driving in the city and people aren’t as respectful. We’ve stopped people for alcohol and arrested them for much more.”
Tourism has always been an economic driver in Laguna Beach, which sees more than 6 million visitors each year. And residents, who have always been a bit cranky about the inconveniences posed by visitors, are happy to use tourist-related tax money to help pay for parks, roads and services.
But this year, city officials say there has been a shift. The number of tourists has been greater and their behavior hasn’t only been drawing frowns, but also prompting more calls to the cops.
The City Council recently formed a subcommittee to address increasing concerns. And, this week, the city launched a public awareness campaign to encourage visitors to treat the city and its beaches with care.
Included in the effort are Google ads that have started appearing during searches of the city on social media highlighting local laws such as no smoking, no single-use plastics, no balloons and no tents on beaches or in parks, and to generate greater awareness of problems with public drunkenness, littering, illegal parking and just plain rude behavior.
The ads, which will cost about $3,600 for the next month, will cast a wide net and may also pop up on users’ social media feeds, Mayor Sue Kempf said.
“We want to step up our messaging that we are an environmental community and we’re a tight-knit community,” Kempf said. “We want people to understand you have to take home what you bring and that we like to take care of our beaches and we don’t want trash in the ocean. We have a Marine Protected Area that’s doing well and we want to keep it like that.”
She is part of the ad-hoc committee with Councilmember Mark Orgill, the two are working with the city manager on how the city can manage the remainder of the summer tourist season, including putting greater attention on the enforcement of rules and addressing the increasing complaints from residents.
City Hall is hearing from residents who are enraged and feel their town is becoming overrun. Public drunkenness is common. So are people relieving themselves in public, residents complain. Parking, traffic and jaywalking are creating dangerous conditions, as are the number of people packing beaches, officials said.
There has been a 400% increase in ocean rescues since Memorial Day this year compared to the same period last year, officials said. Over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, lifeguards pulled 2,200 people from the water, with 800 rescues just on July 4.
“That’s the result of more people being here,” said Marine Safety Chief Kai Bond. “We’re shifting our resources and adding more people in areas we identify as hot spots. Those can change day by day.”
In recent weeks, the biggest crowds have been between Crescent Bay and Main Beach, as well as Treasure Island, Aliso Beach and Thousand Steps.
While lifeguards say they train for large crowds and all types of surf and sand conditions, keeping an eye on such a high volume of people – some who are not so compliant– presents its share of challenges, said Marine Safety Lt. Tom Cantrell.
“Our priority is life safety,” said Cantrell, who works the South Laguna beaches, now under city supervision after being overseen by the county for decades. “The nuisance issues are secondary to making a rescue or (prevention).”
“Most people are receptive to us pointing out dangers,” Cantrell said. “If someone isn’t, we change up our wording, and if someone doesn’t want to listen, we can call for backup.”
That backup includes lifeguard supervisors, park rangers and, if needed, police officers.
Wave Watch, a new bright yellow rescue boat on duty this summer, has not only helped with emergencies in the water, but has also been a good visual reminder of lifeguard presence, Cantrell said.
While Laguna Beach has always been popular with beach visitors, areas that were once quiet and only known by locals are becoming go-to destinations.
“People have discovered Victoria Beach and Woods Cove,” said Farris. “Before, many of the coves in Laguna Beach were never visited by outsiders; they were local beaches.”
Nolan Miura, who lives at Woods Cove, is among those who’ve witnessed the rise in visitors.
“It’s a steady stream of people,” he said of the small cove near his home where the city recently built new stairs and a view deck at the access point to the beach below.
While residents understand visitors are drawn to the cove’s beauty, he said they’d like a little care and respect for the natural surroundings and for the residential neighborhood.
“There is trash, illegal parking in front of the ocean access stairs where people are just having a party,” he said. “They’re smoking cannabis and it goes right up through our house.
“It’s gone off the charts this past year,” he said. “It’s really bad. The disrespect is really disappointing.”
Neighbor Debra Lewis said she now routinely sees passenger vans stopping at the access point, dropping people off and parking at a red curb for hours.
“That’s something I didn’t see in the past,” she said. “People dump their coolers and trash on the street. I used to say something, but I don’t anymore because of a recent incident where I told someone that there was no parking in a particular spot, and he threatened me with violence, saying, ‘You’ll regret saying anything.’”
She’s also had her experiences with people trespassing and who are intoxicated, she said. A few weeks earlier, her dog began barking at a person standing naked in her yard and showering off with her garden hose. She told him he was trespassing and he “started yelling obscenities and said he would be done soon.”
So far this year, the city’s park rangers – a program started by Laguna Beach Police Chief Jeff Calvert to address the growing quality of life issues – have doubled the number of citations given for alcohol-related violations compared to last year. Calls for ranger services have also doubled, officials said.
Citywide, police calls for service remain steady, but in South Laguna, they went from more than 1,300 in June and July last year to almost 1,500 for the same period this year. Reports of illegal parking, medical calls, vandalism and traffic collisions have increased since last year, Farris said.
“We started the program in response to impacts we saw at beaches and parks,” Calvert said, adding that the park rangers program is a step up from the city’s former Beach Patrol, which was run with civilians. The rangers have the authority to cite and arrest people and carry the same equipment as police officers except a firearm.
“Just the visible presence is a deterrent,” Calvert said about their patrols on the sand and in neighborhoods and parks. “There are occasions when education may be a good measure, but they have a balanced approach. If they see a clear violation, they’re out there citing people to prevent those behaviors from continuing.”
Kempf said she and Orgill will look at how the city can budget for more programs to address the impact of visitors next summer.
“If you put trash on our beaches, if you drink, we will ticket you,” she said. “We need to adjust our budget to be ready. How do you teach responsible behavior? The only thing you can do is enforce.”
