Malaga Cove Beautification Project

Started by Palos Verdes Estates community member Morynne Motley, the 501c(3) Malaga Cove Plaza Beautification Project was incorporated in 1992 with the purpose of facilitating the "beautification and preservation of the historically and aesthetically significant Malaga Cove Plaza in Palos Verdes Estates." The organization was created as a fundraising arm to support the efforts to beautify Malaga Cove Plaza. 

Motley moved to Palos Verdes Estates in 1966.  In 1986, she purchased the Del Portal Building which anchors the east end of Malaga Cove Plaza.   Distressed by the state of Malaga Cove Plaza, Motley began photographing the Plaza to document its condition. Her photographs showed trash-filled flower pots, litter, dead trees, over-flowing trash bins, unwashed walkways, leaking pipes, walls with peeling or no paint, exposed electrical wires and a deteriorating fountain and statue, a central feature of the Plaza.  

In 1987, Motley began her efforts to beautify the Plaza.  Her plans included adding walkways and trees, repairing and restoring the Neptune Fountain, replacing street surfaces with stone and providing uniform flower pots and trash receptacles throughout the Plaza.  She received approved from the Planning Commission in 1992, the same year the Project was incorporated.   

Groundbreaking on the renovations started in 1996. The trees, walkways, electrical and irrigation, and fountain restoration were finished within a couple of years.  

Though Motley passed away in 2018, a portion of her trust is dedicated to the perpetual maintenance of the Malaga Cove Plaza fountain, sidewalks and trees.