Peninsula Neighborhood Association
The Peninsula Neighborhood Association is a neighborhood organization open to all Peninsula residents, whether property owners or renters, for a per person annual fee of $25.00. It has a volunteer Board of Directors which are nominated and elected by the members of the Peninsula Neighborhood Association each November.
The Peninsula Neighborhood Association was incorporated in 1960 to oppose a plan by the City to replace the bay side beach with a sea wall, as exists in Naples, for private boat docks (thus the name Peninsula Neighborhood Association). Since winning that battle, the Peninsula Neighborhood Association has been actively involved in preserving the Peninsula’s quality of life through sponsoring local events and activities, as well as representing Peninsula residents before the City on matters that could affect our neighborhood.
Summer Concerts
The Peninsula Neighborhood Association annually sponsors the Summer Concert Series with a weenie roast and the “Santa by the Bay” evening for kids. Civic involvement includes supporting the Peninsula’s Community Emergency Response Team (see CERT), as well as working with the City on beach maintenance and sand replenishment, boardwalk maintenance and replacement, and area development plans and building code variance requests.
Trees on the Bay
The Peninsula Neighborhood Association also supports the 18 floating “Trees on the Bay” which are located along the Peninsula’s bay front from late November through Christmas. The “Trees” were originally established following an Peninsula Neighborhood Association fundraising campaign among residents. The City bills the Peninsula Neighborhood Association yearly for their maintenance which is supported through membership dues. More information associated with this project can be found by clicking on history. A plaque commemorating donors can be found mounted at the bayside end of 60th Place.
Ocean Blvd Median
The Peninsula Neighborhood Association also spearheaded a major campaign to raise money for the rehab of the Ocean Blvd median and the addition of a new planter at 55th Place. Lights at the beginning, ending and mid sections were added. This project included all new sprinklers, over 90 new palms and 5 new giant palms at the entrance. All the palms were trimmed. A granite marker with the inscription “The Peninsula” was installed. Over $250,000 was raised through donations. A recognition plaque for all donations over $500 is in the median section just before 72nd Place turn around.
Membership Benefits
All activities and events of the PNA are funded through membership dues or private donations. Communication of Peninsula Neighborhood Association current events, as well as surveys on critical community issues, are published in a bi-monthly newsletter, on the www.lbpeninsula.org website, and at Spring and Fall General Membership Meetings.
Mission Statement
Please see our Strategic plan/Mission Statement.
Volunteer
Want to become involved in the PNA? Volunteers are needed to help with a variety of activities. Please click here to download a volunteer form.
History
One of the first structures on the Peninsula was an isolated duck hunting club located at the bayside end of what is now 61st Place. The club was established at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century. The first summer beach homes, primarily owned by residents of Los Angeles and Pasadena, were built in 1902-04. Owners of these summer homes were able to reach the Peninsula by means of an interurban electric train that ran from Los Angeles to Newport Beach. The train ran down the center of Ocean Boulevard the length of the Peninsula and then across a trestle connecting the east end of the Peninsula to Seal Beach.
“The Pavilion,” which at various times during its history served as an expensive restaurant and roller skating rink, was established around 1910-12 at the oceanside end of 62nd Place, which was then called Pier Avenue. Pier Avenue undoubtedly got its named from the pier that extended out into the ocean from The Pavilion. The Pavilion and its pier burned down a few years before a massive hurricane swept across the Peninsula in 1939, destroying or causing significant damage to most structures throughout the Peninsula.
In the late 1920’s, Upton Sinclair, the social activist and Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Jungle, used one of the Peninsula’s summer homes as a writing refuge. Two kindred spirits, physicist Albert Einstein and actor Charlie Chaplin, are reported to have visited Sinclair during his stay on the Peninsula.
The Peninsula’s beautiful ocean beach was created with sand dredged from Alamitos Bay during marina construction in the 1950’s and 60’s. Nature moves the ocean beach sand from east to west each year; in the Fall and Winter, the City moves it back to maintain a usable and safe beach width at its narrowest point from 62nd to 65th Place.
The Seaside Walk Boardwalk, which was built in the 20’s, is considered by residents to be a historical treasure. Attempts to replace it with concrete have been strongly opposed by Peninsula residents over the years and, in the 1980’s, money was raised by residents to provide new surface boards (the City replaced the boards again in 2003).
The Boardwalk is bordered by a sea wall that is set into the sand an average depth of 20 feet and which is anchored with rocks at several points along at its base. The curves in this sea wall, and the Boardwalk, were caused by wave action prior to the creation of the current beach and the off-shore breakwater in the 1940’s.
The Peninsula has grown to encompass its current mix of single family homes, duplexes, condominiums and apartments. Residents are a diverse group of families, singles and senior citizens who have been residents for decades. The Peninsula continues to evolve, while at the same time retaining its unique environment and lifestyle.