The Street Seen: Historic Beach Property Fight
Ocean Front Walk @ Pico Blvd
Part of the 1910 Vicente Terrace Tract, a beach sand lot at the bottom of Pico has a turbulent history. In 1921, an African-American group buys the property with the intention of building a resort for Black Americans. In 1922, their request to amend the new zoning ordinance to allow for its construction is denied. In 1926, the property is a part of a private beach for the Edgewater Beach Club. It is now a part of a state-owned public beach.
Vicente Terrace Tract (1910)
The beach sand lot is on the northwest corner of Pico Blvd and Ocean Front Walk - on the beach west of Ocean Front Walk. The 240-ft x 155-ft property is Lot 44 of Carl F. Schader’s 1910 Vicente Terrace Tract.
Prior Owners (1912 to 1921)
In 1912, as an investment, J.S. Stotler and C.T. Lemley acquire a number of Vicente Terrace Tract lots (including Lot 44) from Schader.1 In 1915, Harry H. Culver quietly buys up the beach lots at the foot of Pico.2
Ocean Frontage Syndicate (1921)
In 1921, Black lawyer Charles S. Darden3 and businessman Norman O. Houston,4 representing the Ocean Frontage Syndicate,5 secure an agreement to acquire Lot 44 from Culver.6 The Ocean Frontage Syndicate intends to build a resort, complete with a bathhouse, a dance hall, and an amusement center, that they hope will become a national African-American tourist destination.
First Zoning Code (1921)
At the very end of 1921, along with many other California cities,7 Santa Monica adopts its first Zoning Code.8 The new Santa Monica Zoning Code does not permit new commercial development on the beachfront. From Bicknell Ave north, only “private” residential construction is permitted west of Ocean Front Walk.
Appeal to Amend Zoning Code (1922)
When the Ocean Frontage Syndicate, with a set of plans conforming to the Santa Monica Building Code in hand, applies for a construction permit, they learn that there is a conflict with the new Zoning Code - their site is zoned for residential use only.
The Ocean Frontage Syndicate files an appeal9 with the City Council to amend the Zoning Code to allow the Syndicate’s amusement development. On the morning of May 1, 1922, more than 300 white supporters of the Santa Monica Bay Protective League10 are in the council chambers to lobby for the denial of the appeal. At 10 am, the item is called, and although some members of the Ocean Frontage Syndicate are present, a mix-up11 means that no one from the Syndicate speaks to the item. The Council12 quickly votes to deny the appeal and not amend the Zoning Code. The Council refuses to consider the item again.
Lot Sold (1922)
As their resort can not be built, the Ocean Frontage Syndicate rescinds the purchase.13 In November 1922, Culver14 sells the lot to J.S. Stotler, who quickly resells it to prominent Los Angeles criminal lawyer Paul W. Schenck.15 A “Caucasian clause”16 is placed in the deed.17
Beach Clubs (1926 to 1963)
The beach sand property is never improved. From 1926, Lot 44 is used as part of a private beach for the Edgewater Beach Club and its successors.
State Beach
The property is now part of a state-owned public beach.18
In 1914, real estate investors, Stotler and Lemley offer the beach lot to the City of Santa Monica as a site for a municipal auditorium - an auditorium will add value to their nearby properties. The only restriction is that the auditorium costs more than $100,000. The city does not accept the offer as there are no funds to build the auditorium.
Harry Culver intends to build a pleasure pier at the foot of Pico Blvd. In 1916, he applies to the US government for a navigation permit for a pier; however, the Pico pier never materializes. Culver marries the actress Lillian Roberts (1896 – 1999) in 1916.
Charles Sylvester Darden (1879 – 1954). Darden graduates from Howard University School of Law in 1904. In 1906, he is a self-employed lawyer in Los Angeles working in general insurance, brokerage, and real estate business. In 1915, in Jones and Guatier v. Berlin Realty Company, Darden is the first African American lawyer to successfully challenge the legality of racially restrictive real estate covenants in deeds of sale. He is the first Black lawyer to argue a case before the California Supreme Court.
Norman Oliver Houston (1893 – 1981). Born in San Jose, Houston graduates from the University of California, Berkeley, and is commissioned as a lieutenant in World War I. In 1925, Houston co-founds the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company, which sells life and health insurance policies to blacks throughout California and, later, mortgage loans for homes and businesses. At its height, Golden State Mutual is one of the largest African American-owned businesses in the US.
The Ocean Frontage Syndicate files with the State for incorporation in February 1922. Darden is president.
In 1921, in a lease-to-buy deal, the Ocean Frontage Syndicate puts down $10,000 for the $65,000 Lot 44 of the Vicente Terrace Tract.
In 1921, to transition from haphazard development to orderly land-use planning, many California cities, including Los Angeles, Long Beach, Pasadena, and San Francisco, adopt their first official comprehensive zoning ordinances.
California’s 1921 efforts coincide with the work of the U.S. Department of Commerce, where Secretary of Commerce (and later President) Herbert Hoover establishes an Advisory Committee on Zoning. This committee drafts the Standard State Zoning Enabling Act (SZEA), which provides the legal framework for cities nationwide to adopt similar restrictive land-use laws. These laws are primarily driven by a desire to protect property values, promote industrial efficiency, and institutionalize racial and socioeconomic segregation. In 1926, the US Supreme Court decision in Euclid v. Ambler upholds the constitutionality of zoning as a valid exercise of state “police power” to protect public health and safety.
In September 1921, with the release of the completed draft of the City of Los Angeles zoning ordinance, the Santa Monica council expresses its interest in adopting a Zoning Code. At the very end of December 1921, after “months of discussion” with “prominent citizens” and “various professionals,” the Santa Monica Council enacts a Zoning Ordinance.
Other recent (1922) requests to amend the Zoning Code likely led to the Syndicate’s petition. At the time of the ordinance’s enactment, the Council stated that it would not rigidly enforce the Zoning Code and would consider grievances from property owners. However, thus far (May 1922), the council has refused all petitions to amend.
In 1922, eighteen local white residents and businessmen organize the Santa Monica Bay Protective League. The organization’s primary (unstated) purpose is to keep Black people out of the area. C.F. Schader is president, G.M. Jones vice president, and J.S. Stotler secretary/treasurer. The board of directors includes Charles A. Tegner, Herman Michael, and Bernard Sues. The Santa Monica Bay Protective League adopts a resolution that every property owner in Santa Monica should insert the Caucasian cause in all deeds, rentals, and leases. In July 1922, the Santa Monica Bay Protective League uses a Zoning Code amendment (nightclub in a residential zone) to close Caldwell’s, an African-American nightclub at 1816 3rd St.
On May 1, 1922, Frederick Madison Roberts (1879 – 1952), State Assemblyman from Los Angeles, is scheduled to present the Ocean Frontage Syndicate’s case for amending the Zoning Code, but he is delayed, and arrives at the council chambers an hour late at 11 am.
From 1915 to 1946, Santa Monica has a commission form of government with three elected full-time Commissioners. In 1922, the City Council is Samuel L. Berkley (Commissioner of Public Safety and the ex officio Mayor), William H. Carter (Public Works), and Frank A. Helton (Finance).
In June 1922, Culver offers to sell the beach lot to the City for $55,000, and he is willing to contribute $10,000 to the purchase (bringing the cost to the City to $45,000). Stotler, who had offered to donate the property to the City in 1914, returns from his Orange County ranch, and opines that this is a bad deal as the lot is only worth $30,500.
In June 1922, Culver, in a letter to the newspaper, suggests that the lot is actually owned by his father-in-law, William Porter Roberts (1860 – 1935), and that it is Roberts who sold the lot to the Ocean Frontage Syndicate.
In October 1922, Schenck also acquires from Stotler and Lemley the property directly east across Ocean Front Walk that will become the site of the Edgewater Beach Club in 1926.
The “Caucasian clause,” historical housing discrimination found in old property deeds across California, is a racially restrictive covenant that prohibits the sale, lease, or occupation of property by non-white individuals.
Both J.S. Stotler and Harry Culver are strong advocates of the Caucasian cause in all deeds. In founding Culver City in 1917, Harry Culver aspires to build a “model white little city”, building into his city plans “proper restrictions” and supplemental deed restrictions to prevent “incompatible ownership occupancy”.
Santa Monica State Beach is owned by the State of California through the California Department of Parks and Recreation. The City of Santa Monica is the exclusive operator of the Beach under an operating agreement between the State and the City. The City handles day-to-day operations, including maintenance and, in some areas, lifeguard services, although Los Angeles County also provides lifeguard services. South Santa Monica State Beach extends south of the Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach. On the other side of the pier, North Santa Monica State Beach continues to Pacific Palisades.
