Who Is Behind This Year's Bigger Tree Lighting at Malaga Cove Plaza

This fall, anyone driving into Palos Verdes Estates passed pumpkins, hay bales and marigolds in the planters at the city entrances. The city's October 30 update credited the PVE Foundation for them. The same update listed the dates for the holiday season. The Tree Lighting is Sunday, Dec. 6, from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Malaga Cove Plaza.

The Foundation is one of several community groups behind this year's holiday season. Neighbors are carrying more of December in PVE, and this year's tree lighting is bigger because of them. The city's own share of the budget has not grown.

The Plaza Lights Have Been a Neighborhood Expense for Years

The Palos Verdes Estates Foundation is a 501(c)(3) formed in 2020. It describes its work as funding community projects "critical to the city, but outside the budget commitments of PVE," with donations "almost exclusively from residents." Its best-known project in Malaga Cove is the Neptune Fountain, which has stood in the plaza since 1930. The Foundation led a $75,000 fundraising effort to restore it.

The Foundation pays for holiday lighting too. At last year's tree lighting on Dec. 7, 2025, it "once again raised the funds to light up the plaza." Its donors were Malaga Bank, Malaga Cove Beautification Project, Malaga Cove Ranch Market, Neptune's Frozen Treats and Tony Trutanich. That money lit both Malaga Plaza and Lunada Bay. Local high school students volunteering through community charities handed out candy as Santa's helpers.

Several of those donors do business near the tree. Malaga Cove Ranch Market is at 43 Malaga Cove Plaza and Neptune's Frozen Treats is at 55. Malaga Bank has its Palos Verdes Estates branch at 2514 Via Tejon.

What the Council Memo Proposed for Dec. 6

In earlier years, the city's event followed a familiar pattern. A staff memo prepared for the Nov. 10 City Council meeting lists the usual highlights: remarks from the Mayor, cookies and hot cocoa, food trucks, letters to Santa, crafts for children and parents, and the lighting of the city's tree.

The 2026 version goes further. The memo calls the proposed event "larger than in prior years." The city is planning it with the PVE Foundation and the Malaga Cove Business and Professional Association. Staff listed six proposed changes for Council discussion:

1. Foundation collaboration and fundraising. The PVE Foundation would run the event with the city. In past years, community volunteers supported it.
2. Enhanced tree lighting. The Malaga Cove Business and Professional Association asked the vendor, Beach Cities Lighting, to light the tree in a way that shows off the tree itself.
3. Street closures. The main one would close Via Chico between Palos Verdes Drive West and Via Campesina, so the entire plaza could be part of the event.
4. Vendor parking. Vendors would park in front of the Post Office and Malaga Bank, instead of parking at the school district lot and taking a shuttle in.
5. A menorah. Ner Tamid would deliver and set up a menorah, and the Foundation asked for it to be lit on the Friday and Saturday before the event.
6. More food vendors. Vendor participation and the related logistics were still being finalized.

Each item came from a community group. The merchants asked for better tree lighting. The Foundation asked for vendor parking and the menorah lighting, and Ner Tamid is supplying the menorah. Staff did not propose these changes. Staff passed them to the Council and recommended that it receive and file the proposal and give direction on the collaboration and logistics.

The money is set up the same way. The memo includes a sponsorship flyer with four levels:

• Platinum, $1,000: prominent logo recognition, featured digital promotion and recognition on stage
• Gold, $500: strong logo recognition, multiple digital mentions and recognition at the event
• Silver, $250: logo on event materials and a digital thank-you
• Community, $100: name recognition and a digital thank-you

The City's Share Has Stayed at $5,000

Against those sponsorship levels, the city's own budget is small and familiar. The memo lists $5,000 in hard costs. Personnel costs are $2,400 more, for four Streets and Parks employees working 10 hours each, and the city usually absorbs those as part of normal operations.

The memo states that "as in years past the City's budget includes a contribution of $5,000." More food vendors, better tree lighting and a wider event footprint are coming from the community groups. The city's line has stayed where it was. Most of the city's money goes to lighting for both plazas, which is the same purpose the Foundation's donors funded last year.

Why City Staff Held Back This Fall

The memo also explains the timing. Because of "the ongoing election results," staff "held off on committing resources and funds toward the event in an abundance of caution to safeguard limited City funds."

The election item is Measure PVE, a six-year extension of the city's special parcel tax. It funds the Palos Verdes Estates Police Department and puts money toward the city's unfunded pension liability. It needs two-thirds approval. It follows Measure E, which voters approved in 2018 and which expires June 30, 2027. The city's Measure E explainer page says that if Measure PVE does not pass, about $5.1 million a year would end starting in fiscal year 2027–28. That is roughly 20% of the General Fund.

As of 4 p.m. on Nov. 8, the Los Angeles County results page showed the measure at 68.14% yes and 31.86% no. The Daily Breeze reported that ballots were still being counted, including late-arriving mail ballots and provisional and conditional ballots. It also reported that the registrar is tentatively scheduled to certify results on Nov. 27. That date falls between now and the tree lighting.

Most of the additions proposed for Dec. 6 come from the Foundation and the merchants' association, and the Foundation's proposal includes its own fundraising.

The December Calendar

The rest of the season is spread across three locations and three different organizers.

Santa's ride on Dec. 13 starts at Coronel Plaza with a police and fire escort and ends at the Malaga Cove meet-and-greet. The city says it will share the full route and estimated times closer to the date.

The Lunada Bay Homeowners Association runs Santa in the Park, a long-running event with snow play, activities, and Santa and Mrs. Claus. Like the plaza lights, it is organized by a neighborhood group.

Getting Around the Plaza on Dec. 6

Getting around the plaza that evening will depend on the street plan. If the Via Chico closure between Palos Verdes Drive West and Via Campesina is approved as proposed, the plaza will open up for the event and that stretch will be closed to cars. Under the vendor-parking proposal, vendors would set up from spaces in front of the Post Office and Malaga Bank instead of parking at the school district lot and taking a shuttle. The city's budget also includes $600 for a PVP Transit shuttle.

Anyone who wants to help pay for the lights can contact the PVE Foundation, which also accepts volunteers. The Malaga Cove Business and Professional Association, led by president Virginia Butler, also presents the plaza's summer concert series. Malaga Bank and Malaga Cove Ranch Market, two of last year's lighting donors, are among that series' sponsors.

At Mackenbach Group, we have spent decades of Decembers at Malaga Cove Plaza, and we follow how this community looks after its shared spaces. If you would like to talk about what plaza life and local stewardship mean for a home in Palos Verdes Estates, we welcome you to Request a Private Consultation.