Seal Beach leaders tonight will discuss pier fire that destroyed Ruby's diner

SEAL BEACH >> City leaders are still gathering information about the cause of the fire Friday that destroyed Ruby’s Diner at the end of the Seal Beach Pier, and the cost to repair the damage.

Orange County Fire Authority officials were expected to attend Monday’s City Council meeting, but Councilwoman Ellery Deaton, who represents Old Town, said she does not expect new information.

“I imagine that will take awhile,” she said Monday afteoon. “There needs to be a thorough investigation of the structural damage before we lea any cost estimates.”

Ruby’s Diner had been boarded up and its location — at the final 100 feet of the pier — fenced off since 2013. The entire pier remained off-limits Monday, with yellow tape and a “Road Closed” sign blocking its entrance.

Over the weekend, visitors from across Orange County came to take a look from the Ocean Avenue bluff and the sand.

Businessman Mike Kovach drove from La Habra.

“I used to come here a lot as a kid,” he said. “My family would eat at Ruby’s. Disasters have happened here before — I remember when an El Niño storm destroyed the pier. They always rebuild, and they will again.”

Retired teacher Jeff Sisil, his wife, Chriwstine Sisil, a nurse, and their children Samuel, 8, and Chloe, 5, of Cypress visit the pier and its surrounding area almost weekly.

“We have a lot of good memories here,” Christine Sisil said. “My parents live in Miesota and every time they visit, we all come to the pier. When the weather’s really bad there, I email them photos of a suy day at the pier to show them what they’re missing.”

Her husband added: “Seal Beach is our home away from home. I’m sure the community will rally ‘round and put the pier back in good order.”

On Friday, Seal Beach Mayor Sandra Massa-Lavitt said the city was heartbroken to see flames shooting out of our “beautiful pier.”

“But we are also grateful that so many agencies came together to help us,” she said.

Ironically, the City Council had been scheduled to discuss a possible timetable for the already necessary fixes to the pier — weathered both by age and 2014’s Hurricane Marie — at this week’s meeting.

Damage from the fire was contained to the last 100 feet of the pier where Ruby’s Diner once sat, Massa-Lavitt said.

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Except for that area, the pier is structurally sound, she added.

“The planks are in good shape,” Massa-Lavitt said. “It’s the infrastructure that you don’t see and don’t think about that needs rehabilitation — gas lines, pipes, water lines, sewer lines.”

After Ruby’s Diner closed in 2013, the end of the pier was blocked to visitors. The boarded-up building and locked gate created an eyesore on the city’s scenic emblem rising above a surfers’ haven.

Officials hoped to lure another eatery to the location, and talks with owners of The Original Fish Company in Los Alamitos looked promising.

However, the city discovered that it would first need to put $4 million into repairing the pier before a new business could break ground.

“When we found out about the extent of the repairs needed, negotiations with the restaurant fell apart,” Massa-Lavitt said. “We are not at this time in negotiations with any business.”

The city is still awaiting approval by the State Lands Commission for a coastal permit to rebuild at the location.

One of the longest of its kind in Califoia, the wooden pier is owned by the state and maintained by Seal Beach. The city insures it with the Joint Powers Insurance Authority.

Massa-Lavitt said she plans to hold a public meeting soon to share information about the disaster.

“It’s a historic event,” Massa-Lavitt said, “and, it’s a very expensive event.”