Sand Dune Park is an area of public sand dunes partly on a steep slope that is used for exercise in Manhattan Beach, California. The area has been used by amateur and professional athletes and has been featured in fitness magazines and newspaper accounts as a great workout spot.[1] A fight to close down the sand dune portion of the park or restrict its access came to a head in 2009 when neighbors came out in opposition to the sand dune over noise, traffic and overcrowding concerns. Several City Council meetings have been addressing the issues involved, and the sand dune is closed pending the implementation of substantial use mitigation measures.[2]
The park has been used by Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers, former UCLA defensive back Kirk Alexander, and by Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum and several of their Los Angeles Lakers teammates "past and present". Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics, Tony Gonzalez of the Atlanta Falcons and "any number of NHL players, USC and UCLA football players, volleyball players, boxers, fighters, sprinters and WNBA players" have also "taken on the dune, sharing the sand with a steady stream of weekend warriors."[1]
The park around the dune was built on a converted dump site by local residents in 1964.[3] It was "just a little patch of grass and sand to enjoy when the area was still mostly small beach cottages" and remains one of the last "remnants of a time when much of the South Bay landscape was sand dunes", according to local historian Jan Dennis.[2] Its popularity has grown and fencing, parking restrictions, and closure are being considered.[3]
Chaenactis glabriuscula var. orcuttiana — Orcutt's yellow pincushion, is a rare native plant limited to the coastal dunes of southern California. The Bell Avenue Sand Dune Park in Manhattan Beach and the Ballona Wetlands each had var. orcuttiana populations newly discovered in Spring 2010. [4] [5] The variety is listed by the California Native Plant Society as endemic to California coastal dunes ecosystems and significantly declining. [6][7]