Following another busy summer season, State Parks numbers reveal the ever-popular El Matador State Beach has become a vital player in revenue for Malibu Sector State Parks.
An Instagram search of El Matador State Beach yields tens of thousands of posts from travel enthusiasts, sunset admirers and, of course, the average beach goer.
California State Parks Angeles District Superintendent Craig Sap cited social media as a big factor in making El Matador’s parking “the highest grossing parking lot” on a per-parking-spot basis.
The beach currently has around 35 parking spots that function with an automated pay machine. Though it’s a dirt parking lot, Sap said the lot is “always full.”
While revenue fluctuates, here’s the breakdown of monthly revenue from March to August:
- March – $25,000
- April – $28,000
- May – $27,000
- June – $33,000
- July – $39,000
- August – $36,000
“Given the size of the parking lot, that’s pretty significant.,” Sap explained. With more tourists, summer months tend to see an increase in revenue from parking.
In the past, the parking lot functioned with “iron rangers” prior to the automated pay machines (APMs). Visitors could only pay the exact amount by depositing cash in yellow envelopes, then placing the envelopes in designated boxes. Rangers would have to go through and match the slips with cars.
“What happens is people sometimes don’t pay,” Sap said. “[It was] very tedious … the accounting of it. It was all cash.”
The transition to APMs has resulted in double to triple the amount of revenue El Matador had previously been receiving.
A unique aspect to the payment system is the hourly model; this model results in parking spaces turning over more frequently, contributing to El Matador’s revenue stream.
Seventy-five percent of El Matador visitors pay with credit card, a sign of the times that has made paying for parking a relatively painless process.
The downside to having a smaller number of parking spots (as opposed to El Pescador State Beach and La Piedra State Beach), however, is that people are resorting to parking alongside the highway, a persisting problem for many of Malibu’s residents.
“Going back 15 years ago, El Matador was popular,” Sap reminisced. “[The] other two beaches people don’t know exist.”
As an attempt to alleviate the situation, Sap mentioned a project in the works for 2018-19: converting the space to accommodate 60-70 parking spots. The lot would stretch toward the open space on the right side after the driveway. The field would be cleared out, though Sap was quick to point out that the loss of habitat would necessitate mitigation (planting native plants elsewhere) on a 1-1 or more basis.
An additional project is being proposed to add vault toilets (an outhouse building). Currently, El Matador has five chemical toilets (better known as portable toilets).
Adamson House roof repair to begin this month
Per Sap, there is a confirmed start date of Monday, Nov. 27, for the Adamson House roof repairs. Construction duration is currently set at 120 calendar days, though this number is longer than needed to account for issues such as rain. March 26 is the estimated finish date for construction.
“Now, it’s to make sure that it [the rain] doesn’t come in like it was as far as I know,” Martha Juede, president of the Adamson House foundation, said in a phone call with The Malibu Times. She confirmed there was a plan in place to keep construction flowing through the winter months in the face of potential bad weather conditions.
The roof repairs are an estimated $100,000 project from California Governor Brown’s 2014-15 deferred maintenance budget.
Point Dume staircase project costs skyrocket
The rusty old Point Dume staircase, which for decades has allowed surfers and locals access to the state beach, has been in disrepair some time with dilapidated wooden steps and rusting metal.
The original $2.7 million budget for the Point Dume staircase project has ballooned to “anywhere from $3.4 to $5 million,” according to Sap. The original amount came out of funds leftover from the governor’s 2014-15 budget.
The increase in budget is due to a variety of factors, including “its steepness, location, geo-technic work that needs to be done and a required three-year monitoring (which accounts for 15-20 percent of the cost).”
Sap said there is a laid out area—approximately one acre—for the project. Once work is completed, habitat destruction in the area will also be mitigated to replace the native plants.
“Costs are coming in more than we were expecting,” he said. “We are continually working on them.”
The project is designed to create a “much better experience going down to the beach” with the stairs, which have been a fixture at Point Dume for over 30 years.
Due to its status as a preserve, additional precautions are being put into place.
Sap said, “If it was Leo Carrillo [State Park], [it] would’ve been a lot less [money].”
“You don’t want something to fail over the next year.”
