Newport Beach May Limit Surf Competitions

A growing number of requests to hold surf competitions has prompted Newport Beach officials concerned about trash and traffic to consider limiting the events.

“This is not in response to complaints,” said Melissa Adams of Newport Beach Community Services. “It’s because of increase in applications from seven in 1997 to 13 this year.”

The City Council tonight will consider banning surf competitions on Memorial Day and from June 15 through Sept. 10, and limiting the number of contests to just eight a year along the most popular stretch of beach: between 54th and 58th streets on the northwestern edge of the city.

Bill Sharp, publisher of Costa Mesa-based Surf News magazine, said he is not surprised that Newport Beach wants to rein in the number of contests, which have multiplied in recent years as surfing has grown in popularity.

Until the mid-1980s, surf competitions were not allowed in Newport Beach, Sharp said. The City Council changed that policy in 1983. Most of the contests since then have been small and have not brought in the money or media attention generated by international competitions like Sunday’s Bluetorch Pro 2000 in Huntington Beach.

Newport Beach’s biggest event is Rusty Pro Am, sponsored in September by the surfing gear maker.

Sharp, who lives in Newport Beach, said, “At some point things evolved and they began allowing them, but there’s been a proliferation since then. It’s a fun thing for the kids, but it’s not like it’s bringing in millions of tax dollars like Huntington. It wears on the patience of local surfers.”

Sharp predicted that there will be little opposition except from contest promoters such as surf wear manufacturers, who might view limits as an infringement on their business.