Manhattan Beach to Lose Volleyball Event

As a result of a back-and-forth legal tussle, the Manhattan Beach Open volleyball tournament, referred to by beach denizens as the Wimbledon of the sand, is moving one pier south and changing its name.

The venerable volleyball competition that has played out on the sandy seafront before thou

sands of spectators since 1960, will be held in Hermosa Beach later this month, the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals announced Wednesday. The move came in response to an ongoing Superior Court lawsuit over the environmental impact of the time-honored tournament--which now will be called the Miller Lite/AVP Hermosa Beach Grand Slam--on Manhattan Beach.

The winner in all this appears to be Hermosa Beach, which will have not one but two association tournaments this summer.

The loser is the man who filed the lawsuit to block the Manhattan Beach Open. Donley Falkenstien lives in Hermosa Beach, only blocks away from where the two volleyball competitions will be held.

“As an Hermosa Beach resident, I’m appalled,” Falkenstien said.

For weeks now, the volleyball association has wrangled with a number of legal hurdles that made the Manhattan Beach Open an on-again, off-again event. Now back on again, it will be held June 13-15 in Hermosa, and tickets will be free. In July, the association will hold the Miller Lite U.S. Championships in Hermosa Beach, also free.

The tournament’s troubles began after sponsors announced that they would sell tickets for two of its three days of matches. In previous years, the organizers sold 25% of the tickets.

After a roar of opposition to paid tickets, the California Coastal Commission voted last month to ban paid seating at any event held on a public beach between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

In addition, Falkenstien, a longtime Hermosa Beach resident opposed to the tournament because of noise and traffic, formed the South Bay Coastal Alliance, which filed a lawsuit last month against the volleyball association to block the tournament.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge granted the alliance a temporary restraining order that could have halted the tournament because city officials allegedly did not adequately consider the environmental impact of the event. But the alliance had to come up with a $50,000 bond to cover losses that tournament organizers could incur while the case was being reviewed. The alliance failed to post the bond.

Still, a preliminary injunction hearing is scheduled for today on whether the tournament in Manhattan Beach should be stopped. The lawsuit doesn’t apply to a Hermosa Beach tournament.

Because of the legal uncertainty posed by the lawsuit, the association approached Hermosa Beach about holding the volleyball competition. On Tuesday night, the City Council approved the event being held south of the pier.

But the move has left Manhattan Beach city officials unhappy.

“Yeah, we’re disappointed,” Manhattan Beach City Manager Geoff Dolan said.

Lon Monk of the volleyball association said $17,000 in tickets were sold. Ticket-holders will be contacted about refunds.