HUNTINGTON BEACH – The U.S. Open of Surfing will be scaled back next year in response to the melee that erupted on Main Street after the close of this year’s event, resulting in thousands of dollars in property damage and city money spent on cleanup.

James Leitz, senior vice president of IMG, the company that has put on the world-renowned surfing event since 2001, gave a presentation Thursday night at the Huntington Beach Downtown Task Force meeting that showed plans for a significantly reduced event.

“We’re going to bring a sport focus back to the forefront,” Leitz said. “We’re going to bring back the elements that attract the right type of crowd and eliminate the elements that attract the wrong type of crowd.”

There will be no more live concerts, no “dust bowl,” no carnival elements, reduced vendors and no passing out freebies, according to the plans.

Next year’s event, which will celebrate 100 years of surfing in Huntington Beach, will include grandstands for watching the surfing, a skate bowl for professional BMX and skateboarding competitions, a retail area, and a few booths for the event’s major sponsors, Leitz said.

IMG also wants to expand security, cleanup and code enforcement beyond the venue on the beach to include downtown and surrounding neighborhoods.

Cypress-based Vans came on as a sponsor for the first time last year, and signed a three-year agreement with IMG to be the title sponsor.

Doug Palladini, general manager for Vans North America, said the brand is “fully aligned” with what IMG presented to the city.

“While we continue to believe that the challenges facing the city of Huntington Beach as evaluated by the task force are much greater than those of the U.S. Open alone – the discussion around liquor licenses and ABC enforcement is a good example – we as event stakeholders want to be strong and constructive partners.”

After the close of the event July 28, thousands of people descended on Main Street and fights broke out in the thick crowd.

Fighting turned to a melee as some people lighted fires, toppled portable toilets, damaged city vehicles and vandalized and burglarized a Main Street business. People threw bottles, bricks and other debris at police officers and one person attempted to assault an officer with a skateboard.

The city spent $30,800 on cleanup after the incident.

“It was kind of heartbreaking, to be honest with you,” Leitz said of the events. “To realize what’s going on in the periphery of the event kind of takes the wind out of your sails.”

In the days that followed, city leaders held a special meeting and fielded complaints from residents. Many in the community called for a smaller event with fewer elements that would draw heavy crowds with little interest in professional surfing.

“We’re all going to need to work together,” Mayor Connie Boardman said at the meeting. “I really appreciate the way (the producers) have scaled down the footprint and eliminated what we perceive to be … some of the trouble areas.”

Surfer Peter PT Townend said Friday that he welcomed the proposed changes for next year’s event.

This goes “back to the DNA of why the OP Pro in ’82 and the US Open in ’94 were founded – to bring the world’s best surfers to an event in H.B. for the fans of surfing,” he wrote on Facebook.

Huntington Beach resident and photographer Benjamin Ginsberg, on the other hand, said getting rid of the live entertainment and other extras would impact the vibe of the event.

“I don’t think that was the problem and getting rid of it will just take away from the festival atmosphere of the Open,” he wrote on Facebook. “Sad to say, if the U.S. Open was all about surfing, it’d be held a month later with more consistent waves.”

Event organizers said the dates of the event will not likely change because they are set by an international surfing calendar that schedules all major events for the year. Next year’s U.S. Open is slated for July 26-Aug. 3.

IMG will continue to work with the task force, which includes city officials, downtown residents and business owners, as planning for the event progresses.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7953 or jfletcher