Sunday, May 18, 2025
Long Beach City Manager Dan Creighton detailed a series of planned changes to beach access and enforcement in his City Manager’s Report at the March 18 City Council meeting.
The updates aim to improve compliance with beach pass regulations, increase revenue and create a more efficient system for managing beach entry and visitor tracking.
“There are 38 distinct access points onto the beach — 38 different entrances,” Creighton said. “We have a problem with people ignoring the gate pass collectors. I won’t say what they say to them typically, but it’s not nice. We also have a problem with some of the ticket collectors not necessarily collecting the tickets. So we’re looking at just different ideas on what to do to control enforcement of ticket collections at the beach.”
The city plans to consolidate entry points by relocating some ticket booths and closing certain staircases. The closed stairs will be converted into shower areas at the boardwalk level, allowing visitors to clean off more easily. The goal is to create a more controlled entry system with a single access point at each entrance to reduce unauthorized access.
To improve entrance enforcement, the city plans to hire more experienced staff, including members of local organizations such as the VFW and retirees. Creighton referenced a 2024 pilot program in which sanitation workers were posted at select entrances, which discouraged scofflaws, and resulted in increased revenue from beach pass sales. The city plans to expand this approach this season.
Another update involves adding barcodes to beach passes to track their use more accurately. This will allow the city to monitor how many people use each entrance and how often specific passes are scanned.
“It will allow us to track better over the year — how many locations are entered, how many people are in which locations, how many times the pass was used a day,” Creighton said. “All these different sorts of tracking data that we can gather from it will help us figure out when we need to shut down beaches, which beaches are the appropriate ones to shut down, which ones have lower usage. And we’ll really be able to use that data to more effectively provide safe conditions for all of our residents and visitors on the beaches.”
Visitors with daily passes will now receive wristbands color-coded to the day of purchase, to prevent reuse.
The city also plans to lift the current limit of three passes per household. Allowing residents to purchase as many passes as they need upfront will simplify the process and reduce the need for repeat transactions.
Council members generally supported the proposed changes, highlighting the potential benefits of improved data collection and the wristband system. Creighton expressed confidence that the adjustments would strengthen enforcement, improve beach operations and potentially increase revenue from pass sales.
Season beach passes will go on sale in May. They will be available online and at the gazebo, outside the Recreation Center on Magnolia Boulevard, from May 12 to June 18, on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on weekends from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The gazebo closes June 19. Passes will also be sold at the trailer at the corner of Broadway and Laurelton, on weekends from May 24 to June 15, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and daily from June 19 to Sept. 1, on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on weekends from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Passes are required for anyone over 13. Resident passes are $85 for individuals, $115 for families and $30 for seniors and children. Non-resident rates are $170 for individuals, $230 for families and $60 for seniors and children. Daily passes are $12 for residents and $15 for non-residents, with a 25-cent fee for electronic daily passes and a $1 surcharge for seasonal passes.
Daily passes are available at Pacific, Neptune, Long Beach, Riverside, Edwards, National, Laurelton and New York Avenues, payable by credit card only.
The beach season begins May 24 with passes required on weekends and Memorial Day through June 15, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. From June 19 to Sept. 1, passes will be required daily, on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on weekends and holidays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For more information, visit longbeachny.gov/beachpassinfo.
