Planning Commission delays vote on Downtown parking plan

Tariq Malik

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- City officials burned the midnight oil Tuesday as

they tried to hammer out an update for a Downtown parking master plan,

which describes the present and future parking needs along and around

Main Street.

In a 4-0 vote, the Planning Commission postponed updating the plan,

resigning themselves to another week of study to absorb and evaluate

staff reports. Commissioners Connie Mandic, Jan Shomaker and Fred Speaker

abstained because of conflicts of interests.

“There’s just too much at stake here to rush this,” Commissioner Bob

Biddle said, adding that last-minute changes in the staff report and

parking study have concerned him to the point that he would like more

time. “There are questions both by commissioners and the public, which

need to be answered before we go forward.”

The commission discussed the proposed update until about 12:30 a.m.

Wednesday, hoping to reach a conclusion because of the time pressures

posed by the upcoming elections and development planned along Pacific

Coast Highway.

The update is based on a $70,000 study by Santa Monica-based

consultant Dick Kaku, who surveyed parked cars in September 1999, using

sight and questionnaires to determine where drivers parked, how long they

stayed and the purpose of their visits.

In 1995, the city first approved the parking plan, setting a

500,000-square-foot cap on Downtown development and subsequently the

amount of parking available in that area. Over the last five years, the

city has developed up to 475,000 square feet in retail, restaurants and

commercial establishments, with about 1,870 parking spaces used primarily

on Fridays and Saturdays.

Five years later, such projects as the Plaza Almeria and other

developments have changed those initial estimates.

“Basically, what we determined is that the city has enough parking

Downtown today to handle demand and should continue to in the future,”

Kaku said, adding that he expects parking availability to be up to 2,271

spaces when the redevelopment is complete. Then, he added, the city will

have a deficit of 139 spaces on weekends, and only during the peak summer

month of July, which can easily be dealt with using new parking

strategies and neighborhood parking not counted in the Downtown study.

The update also includes adding more than 700,000 square feet in

development space, which could further affect the parking needs Downtown.

But that didn’t sit well with some business owners concerned about the

study’s accuracy and relevance because it is already more than a year

old.

Resident Bob Bolen, who runs a realty business in Downtown on Main

Street, said the study took into account private parking lots closed to

the public and did not reflect normal statistics because of poor weather

and bad timing. The fact that the study was conducted in September,

rather than the peak month of July, is proof, he added.

Commissioners, on the other hand, said they believed in the merit of

Kaku’s report, and will resume the parking discussion during a special

meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall and will reopen the public

hearing. If approved, the update will go to the City Council for final

approval.