permit

A city hearing concerning on-site alcohol sales provided the public a chance to air their opinions on the possible reopening of the Cinerama Dome and ArcLight Hollywood on Tuesday morning.

Though a final letter of determination is still to be issued, Tim Fargo, the associate zoning administrator in charge of Tuesday’s meeting, said he was “inclined to approve” the conditional-use permit under consideration. The permit would cover the Cinerama Dome, 14 adjacent auditoriums and a restaurant café with two outdoor spaces.

The Dome closed in March 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and in April 2021 it was announced that the venue would not be reopening. Film lovers in Los Angeles and around the world have since been hopeful the venue, seen by many as a symbol for Hollywood itself, could reopen.

During the meeting, Elizabeth Peterson-Gower, a land use consultant representing the owner and applicant Dome Center LLC, was asked if there was a timeline for reopening the theaters. She responded, “I too don’t have a schedule yet, but when I do, I’ll convey it to you.”

In a separate phone interview following the meeting Tuesday, Peterson-Gower referred to the approval of the conditional-use permit as a “milestone” in the process of reopening the theaters and added that ownership has noted the intense public interest around the Dome and the ArcLight and that “it will inspire a time frame in the near future.”

Throughout the meeting, Peterson-Gower referred to the success of the Blue Note jazz club that opened on a corner of the property in August 2025.

“What it proves to me is that the ownership cares greatly,” Peterson-Gower said after the meeting. “That’s a big undertaking and a big statement in favor of the fact that ownership care what’s there.”

Numerous other voices were heard throughout the hearing as well. Ted Walker, planning deputy for Council District 13, where the theater is located, said, “Too often we see [historic-cultural monuments] around our city sitting vacant. So we’re very supportive of anything to bring some life back into this. We know there’s a lot of love for the Cinerama Dome and we want to acknowledge the work of all the community members who are advocating for it. We believe resuming these operations will further enhance the vibrancy of Hollywood.”

Burbank City Council member Konstantine Anthony noted that he was a former usher at the Dome and also voiced support for the reopening.

More than 30 people provided public comment. Among those were Kat Kramer, daughter of filmmaker Stanley Kramer, director of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” the very first film to play in the Dome in 1963, film critic Wade Major and Ben Steinberg, who has led a grassroots campaign to get the venue reopened.

The Blue Note Jazz Club undergoes construction near the Cinerama Dome on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Los Angeles.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

One commenter said, “Why have they kept it closed? Is this just a strategy to let it rot so that they can get building violations and just tear it down and build condos? There’s a lot of fear about what’s going to happen with this thing that people feel attached to. And to not answer questions over all this time has frankly been offensive.”

Another commenter said that the delays in reopening feel like ownership “keeping a bit of our heritage hostage from us.”

Even those who were asking for clear specifics from ownership were nearly all in favor of granting the conditional-use permit, which was the ostensible purpose of the meeting. As local preservation advocate Kim Cooper said, “I know that this has been hard and it has seemed like the citizens versus the ownership — that’s not what it is. People want to come together and help and bring this place back.”

Speaking after the meeting, Peterson-Gower noted her own history with the Dome, having been involved with many events there in the late ’80s and early ’90s when she was vice president of the Hollywood Athletic Club, located just a few blocks away on Sunset Boulevard.

“Everyone has a story about the Dome that’s lived here, even me,” she added. “I didn’t want to bring my personal life into the hearing, but I care passionately as well about it opening.”

While the final outcome of the hearing is still to be fully determined, all signs point to the permit being granted and the project being free to move forward.

“I was overwhelmingly pleased with the comments,” said Peterson-Gower. “I think that it shows that there’s a great historic use in a historic property and I think that people care passionately about it operating and are very, very proud of the property being here in Hollywood.”

The sands of Oceano Dunes — the only state park where visitors are usually allowed to drive on the beach — are unusually quiet right now.

Too quiet, many locals say, because off-road vehicles and beach camping have been temporarily banished from San Luis Obispo County’s Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area since April 14.

Many others, however, are happy about the pause, saying it will be good for the western snowy plover, a threatened sea bird species.

This discord is part of a long-running battle between environmentalists and recreation advocates along this stretch of coastline a few miles south of Pismo Beach. The environmentalists won the most recent round when a federal judge ordered the dunes closed until state parks officials obtain a permit from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that allows occasional bird casualties.

State parks officials, who have canceled all camping reservations in the area through May 22, said they hope to reopen it by May 23. But that timetable depends on permit approval by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Camping reservations for May 23 and beyond are still active, according to Jon O’Brien, superintendent of the state parks system’s Oceano district.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Meanwhile, along Pier Street in Oceano, business is slow.

At Sun Buggy Fun Rentals, which has been catering to visiting families for more than 20 years, “we’ve had to lay a majority of our folks off,” said owner Randy Jordan. He said he’s counting on state parks officials “doing everything they can” to reopen the area on May 23.

At the Pier Street Deli y Mas, “It’s been really slow,” manager Chelsea Nava said. “Our employees are losing hours.”

In normal times, Nava said, 80% or more of her customers are from out of town, including “a lot of people from Bakersfield and Fresno, [who] come in for the dunes.”

“We aren’t quite sure” what to expect next, Nava said, noting that her family took over the deli in late 2024. “We were doing really great right before the closing,” she said.

The closure was ordered by U.S. District Court Judge Anne Hwang, who ruled April 9 that the state needs to do more to protect the western snowy plover, which is classified as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Under Hwang’s order, the closed area can reopen when the state files a long-awaited habitat conservation plan and gets an “incidental take” permit from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that allows some snowy plover deaths and injuries. Jon O’Brien, superintendent of the state parks system’s Oceano district, said he was confident that the state would obtain the approval and reopen the area almost immediately after May 22.

Camping reservations for May 23 and beyond “are still active,” O’Brien said. “So if you’ve got a camping reservation for May 24, you’re still got a reservation.”

Jim Suty, president of the Friends of Oceano Dunes, which favors recreational use of the area, said he’s hopeful that parks officials can open the area as promised. But even if they do, Suty said, plenty of damage has been done.

“People really need to appreciate that closing the park at this time did nothing to help the endangered species, and did everything to hurt the people,” Suty said, referring to visitors and local businesses that depend on them. “It’s very important to the vitality of the local community.”

“It’s maddening,” said David Hamilton, who lives in nearby Arroyo Grande and said he has been driving the dunes and watching sunsets with his wife for years. “There’s so much coastline and they can’t leave this small stretch open.”

The recreation area’s status has long been crucial to Oceano, an unincorporated community of about 7,000, located just to its north.

Though there are several neighboring small cities along the nearby coast, Oceano merchants say they don’t get much business from Grover Beach, Arroyo Grande or Pismo Beach, which includes more upscale hotels and restaurants with clifftop ocean views.

Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area remains the only California State Park where vehicles may be driven on the beach.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

The judge’s order covers roughly 800 acres of off-highway vehicle area south of Arroyo Grande Creek. Until April 14, O’Brien said, up to 350 campers per night (at $10 per vehicle) were allowed in the area, along with up to 1,720 off-highway and 1,800 street-legal vehicles per day, at $5 per vehicle.

The most recent court case was initiated in 2020 by the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity. Zeynep Graves, a senior attorney at the center, said in a statement that state officials “have let off-road vehicles tear through protected habitat at Oceano Dunes, injuring and killing snowy plovers, harassing roosting flocks, and degrading their habitat.”

However, state parks statistics show that the western snowy plover breeding population has grown from at least 32 breeding adults in 2002 to at least 281 in 2024, exceeding state targets since 2013.

In her ruling, Hwang found that California state parks had violated the federal Endangered Species Act by permitting too much activity near the birds without having obtained an “incidental take” permit.

State parks officials responded by saying the closure “will result in thousands of families losing their camping reservations and coastal recreational access, while cutting operational revenue that funds environmental conservation.”

During the closure, Pismo State Beach — which is just north of the off-highway recreation area and Arroyo Grande Creek — will allow a maximum of 1,000 street-legal vehicles per day (and no off-highway vehicles). Pismo State Beach’s two campgrounds (near the beach but not on it) remain open.

Oceano Dunes is the state’s only oceanfront off-highway vehicle recreation area. Drivers have been driving on the beach and dunes there since the early 20th century. The state acquired the land in 1974 and created the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area in 1982.

Through the years, state parks officials have gradually reduced acreage open to off-highway vehicles as recreation advocates and environmentalists have debated how much protection the birds need. Often, the battle has pitted the California Coastal Commission (seeking to curtail vehicle access) against leaders of California State Parks (seeking to continue vehicle access).

Apart from closures, Oceano Dunes recently faced another challenge. Because of CoVID-19 safety measures, the area locked its gates in 2020-21. During that time, rare shorebirds started nesting in areas usually reserved for off-roaders and their beach-riding vehicles. In 2021, the California Coastal Commission sought to permanently end off-road driving in the dunes but was later overruled by court rulings that the agency had overstepped its authority.

Throughout the debate, the area has remained popular. In 2022-23, the most recent fiscal year for which statistics are available, the area drew more than 908,000 visitors, including about 126,000 campers.