Redondo Beach is negotiating a possible deal with BeachLife Festival for the Seaside Lagoon and Marina Parking Lot, a move that could reshape plans for the aging waterfront site.

City Manager Mike Witzansky and Luke Smude, assistant to the city manager, entered a closed session Tuesday, Sept. 1, to negotiate price and terms with Allen Sanford of BeachLife Festival, according to the council meeting agenda. The session covered two parcels that include the Marina Parking Lot and Seaside Lagoon at 200 Portofino Way.

The talks come as the city's $9.47 million plan to rehabilitate the lagoon awaits a final decision. The Redondo Beach Harbor Commission held a special meeting on Aug. 25 to consider a CEQA exemption and design review permit for the rehab project, but no public record of the commission's vote has been released. The Daily Breeze described the lagoon revamp as "at a crossroads" in a Sept. 1 report.

The closed-session talks are not new. Council agendas show the city held a similar closed session with Sanford on April 14, with the same property parcels and "price and terms" listed as the subject. That April session included a larger negotiating team: Witzansky, Smude, Acting Waterfront and Economic Development Director Katherine Buck, and attorney Jon Goetz of Redwood Public Law.

One week later, on April 21, the council voted 5-0 to direct staff to pursue entitlements for a reduced-scope Phase 1 lagoon rehab. That plan called for a new one-acre, five-foot-deep swimming lagoon, a water slide, splash features, upgraded restrooms and perimeter fencing. The Phase 1 estimate stood at roughly $9.47 million, with about $7.9 million in combined state grant and city funding available, leaving a gap of about $1.57 million, Patch reported.

The parallel tracks have drawn pushback. Seven public comments submitted to the Harbor Commission's Aug. 25 special meeting all supported the Phase 1 rehab and opposed any delay for a private deal.

CeeCee Murphy: "I support the already approved and funded refurbishment of the Seaside Lagoon. I do NOT support an individual coming in and privatizing the space, as I've heard might be in the plans. Redondo doesn't need more BeachLife. We need more beach life."

Darryl Boyd urged the commission to approve the Phase 1 package without delay, warning against letting BeachLife Festival control the marina and lagoon for private profit. Jennifer Jones called a potential delay fiscally reckless, citing the risk of forfeiting state grant funding.

The lagoon has faced mounting maintenance problems. A pump failure forced a roughly two-week closure in 2025 and cost about $60,000 to repair. The city also reported $175,000 in fines for a second two-year cycle of water-quality violations, according to Patch.

City staff had said the goal was to finish Phase 1 before the BeachLife Festival in May 2028 and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. No details from the Sept. 1 closed session have been made public, and no date for the next council discussion on the lagoon or BeachLife negotiations has been announced.