Southeast : After 10-Year Fight, Bank Gets Parking Lot

A decade-long struggle over nine parking spaces in Long Beach all but ended last week when the state Coastal Commission voted 9 to 1 to lift chains around a paved lot in the Belmont Shore beach community. One commissioner abstained.

F&M; Bank had awaited permission for employees to park in the lot since 1985, the year it purchased and demolished a house at the site at 207 St. Joseph Ave. The Coastal Commission had final authority over the plan because the lot is only a few blocks from the beach.

Commissioners upheld a recent decision by the City Council to allow bank employees to park on the 3,000-square-foot lot.

Neighbors of the lot had fought the parking plan, saying it would set back their efforts to preserve the area’s upscale feel.

Now the city must decide who can park there when the bank is closed. Neighbors are hoping city officials keep the area off-limits to patrons of local bars.

“We want [the lot] available for employees to park during business hours, and after business hours we’re open to the wishes of the community,” said Tim Wilson, senior vice president of the bank.

Councilman Doug Drummond, whose district includes the controversial lot, expressed relief at the decision.

“Parking in that area is very, very difficult,” Drummond said. “This is a free remedy, that is it’s paid for by the bank.”