Bill To Return Bruce's Beach Unanimously Approved By State Senate

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA —The California State Senate passed SB 796 with unanimous bipartisan support on Wednesday. The legislation would remove state restrictions on Los Angeles County-owned beachfront property in Manhattan Beach once owned by Willa and Charles Bruce which limit the County's ability to transfer the property.

SB 796's passage would allow LA County Supervisor Janice Hahn to move forward with her effort to return the property to the surviving descendants of Willa and Charles Bruce.

“I want to thank our State Senators who voted for this important legislation and have supported Los Angeles County’s effort to return the Bruce’s Beach property to the Bruce family nearly a century after it was stolen from them," Supervisor Hahn said in a statement. "It is my hope that once this legislation is signed into law, Los Angeles County can set an historic precedent for how we as a nation should go about beginning to atone for the sins of our past.”

The bill still needs to be approved by the state Assembly.

In 1912, a young black couple named Willa and Charles Bruce purchased beachfront property in Manhattan Beach and built a resort that served Black residents. It was one of the few beaches where black residents could go because so many other local beaches did not permit black beachgoers. The Bruces and their customers were harassed and threatened by white neighbors including the KKK. Eventually, the Manhattan Beach City Council moved to seize the property using eminent domain in 1924, purportedly to create a park. The city took the property in 1929 and it remained vacant for decades.

The property the Bruce family once owned was years later transferred to the State and in 1995 transferred to Los Angeles County. It is now the site of the Los Angeles County Lifeguard Training Headquarters.

Supervisor Hahn announced her intention earlier this year to return the property to the Bruce family but found that she needed state legislation before the county could transfer this property. When the property was transferred from the state to the county in 1995, the state imposed restrictions that limit the county's ability to transfer the property.

SB 796, legislation introduced by State Senator Steve Bradford, would exempt the Bruce's Beach property from statuary restrictions on the transference and use of that land to enable the county of Los Angeles to transfer the land to the descendants of its rightful owners.

If it passes the state Assembly, SB 796 will need to be signed into law by Governor Newsom.

To learn more about Bruces's Beach go to hahn.lacounty.gov/bruces-beach