Ventura Harbor dune controversy spikes up worry over volleyball courts

• A state agency said the courts sit on environmentally sensitive land.
• Volleyball advocates say there are no adequate alternative sites.
• Ventura Harbor leaders want to keep the beach as it is.

Long-standing volleyball courts on a Ventura Harbor beach sit unpermitted on dune land that was flattened and stripped of vegetation, according to California Coastal Commission staff allegations.

The claims, and calls from commission officials for the site to be restored to dunes, have unleashed concern about the future of the popular volleyball courts and other recreational facilities on Harbor Cove Beach.

Officials of the agency designed to protect the coast want harbor leaders to relocate the courts used by schools, youth groups, tournament organizers and beachgoers looking for exercise. Ventura Port District officials said they don’t want to move the courts and challenge assertions the land is environmentally sensitive.

Coastal Commission leaders say they won’t force the nine sand courts to move and are looking for a “win-win” middle ground. But the talk of relocation sparked a special port district meeting and a petition signed by more than 2,000 people. The document calls for saving the 10-year-old courts that serve as a recreation hub and a go-to site for women and girl volleyballers.

“They are the only female-centric courts in Ventura County,” said Brad Lyans, coach of the Ventura College women’s team that uses the site for practice and matches.

Lyans, who also manages the courts, said there are no alternative beaches at the harbor that could replace the current program.

“For the last 10 years, no one has said two words about it,” he said in frustration. “There’s never been an issue until right now.”

Outrigger clubs worry too

Port district leaders worry too about two outrigger canoe clubs that paddle out of the same beach, at the far end of the harbor, not from the Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center. They store their canoes and equipment in large containers on land that Coastal Commission staff said is environmentally sensitive.

Coastal Commission leaders said the outrigger containers may also need to be moved.

A plan for an alternative storage site is being considered. If it fails, leaders of the outrigger clubs worry they could be endangered along with activities aimed at introducing children to paddling and an annual tournament that brings hundreds of visitors to the harbor.

“It could jeopardize our club’s future as a recreational provider in the Ventura Harbor,” said Yvonne Menard, president of the Hokuloa Outrigger Canoe Club.

Officials of the Ventura Port District contend the Coastal Commission staff’s interest in bringing back more dunes could dramatically reduce recreational activities and public access on a beach regularly used for public events and so protected from the surf it is nicknamed Mother’s Beach.

“This is the best public beach in Ventura County, and to potentially lose what could be a substantial amount of beach … just does not seem like good policy,” said Brian Pendleton, general manager of the Ventura Port District.

Sand has piled up

The issue is expected to surface in a Coastal Commission meeting on May 9 in Half Moon Bay. Commissioners are set to vote on awarding a long-awaited permit that would allow the Ventura Port District to resume sand-management work that was halted in 2023 when the district was told it needed commission authorization.

Steve Hudson, district director for the commission, said the permitting process revealed that dune land was leveled sometime in 2013 and vegetation removed in what he called violations of the state’s Coastal Act. He said it’s not clear who committed the actions.

Pendleton said the issue is “legal matter” and declined to respond to specific allegations.

“We disagree with their findings,” he said. A port district lawyer said in a letter to the Coastal Commission that founders of the volleyball court were not told of the permit requirements. He also contended the commission was told about the courts before they were installed.

The differences extend to other issues. Pendleton said the halt on the port district’s sand management work in 2023 means sand has spilled over fences and piled on walkways, parking lots and streets. The district’s commission declared an emergency in April to allow sand removal efforts to resume for seven days.

Hudson said the Coastal Commission understands the value of the volleyball courts and is committed to recreation and public access. He said the current issue focuses on the alleged changes in the dune land, not on nets.

“The only concern with the volleyball court is the location,” he said, noting that possible new sites for the sand volleyball complex could include a southern stretch of the same beach “as close as a few hundred feet.”

The volleyball courts are managed by a youth and juniors club organization called the Los Angeles Volleyball Academy. Lyans, who works for the academy, said the alternative beach location isn’t nearly big enough. Another site that has been discussed has asphalt under the sand. Other beaches contain too many rocks and pebbles.

“I don’t think there are any areas that I’ve seen that are available that are public use lands where we could potentially put courts,” he said.

Port district leaders said the best location for the court is its current one.

Creating a backup plan

Hudson said he recognizes a compromise may not be reached. He said staff won’t force the issue but will recommend the Coastal Commission approve the sand management permit and “carve out” the volleyball issue, leaving it unresolved. In that scenario, the courts would stay while efforts to find a resolution could continue.

Ventura Harbor leaders said such a carve out could bring more time to find a better plan. But it could also lead to the Coastal Commission deciding in the future to force out the courts or take enforcement action.

In a special meeting on April 23, Ventura Port District commissioners voted unanimously to ask the Coastal Commission to approve the sand management permit and to keep the beach as it is, allowing current recreation to go undeterred.

They said they would also work to keep the outrigger clubs at the Harbor Cove Beach, moving the storage containers to an adjacent location not regulated by the Coastal Commission.

Port district leaders also adopted a backup plan. They said if the Coastal Commission on May 9 expresses reluctance to their plan to keep the Harbor Cove Beach in its current state, they’ll pivot to Hudson’s carve-out plan. They would ask for a year of time with assurances no action will be taken against the volleyball court.

They would then study the options and come up with a comprehensive plan.

Advocates for the volleyball nets and outrigger clubs supported the strategy but still worried about the uncertainty of what could happen at the Coastal Commission meeting in May.

“I’m always going to be worried,” Lyans said.

Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com.

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