Long Beach : Carmelitos Parking Rules Toughened to Curb Crime

In an effort to reduce chronic drug trafficking at the Carmelitos public housing project in North Long Beach, the City Council has given preliminary approval to new parking regulations for the complex. The regulations would make it illegal for anyone without a parking permit to park or even stop their car in the complex’s many parking lots, a favored spot for drug dealers.

The county housing complex has been plagued by increasing crime problems, which residents blame largely on outsiders who congregate in the parking lots and on the project’s abundant lawns.