Balboa Village businesses feeling construction pinch
June Casagrande
BALBOA VILLAGE -- Businesses suffering because of construction work
may find that city solutions are too little too late.
Local officials are looking for ways to ease the burden on shops along
Balboa Boulevard where sidewalks are torn up, parking spaces are taken
away and access to stores is blocked off. The work, which began in
November, is just the first phase of a three-phase project to improve and
beautify the small commercial area.
But like most improvements, the benefits won’t come until after
sacrifices that, for some, could be too much to bear.
“We’re really suffering here,” said Maggie Allison, co-owner of Balboa
Market.
Her store is at the intersection of Balboa Boulevard and Washington
Street, where a new storm drain and water main are being installed. Crews
have sometimes blocked off access to her parking lot altogether, she
said.
“Two days before Thanksgiving, I had customers who wanted to come
here, who wanted to buy turkeys and other things, calling me saying, ‘How
do I get in there?”’ she said.
City officials have been meeting with area merchants to find ways to
help the businesses deal with the parking, access and other problems
caused by work crews. A sign has been installed on Balboa Boulevard
announcing that businesses are open during construction. Also, about 100
of the 310 parking spaces at Balboa Pier that were taken for work have
now been restored.
Officials are considering adding more signs and finding more parking
solutions, but everyone acknowledges that work will continue to be a
bother until it’s over.
“Any construction project is going to cause some problems,” said City
Councilman Tod Ridgeway, whose district includes Balboa Village.
At the next City Council meeting, the staff plans to offer more
solutions for helping the businesses.
“In the two-block area where I am, they haven’t done any work yet at
all, but they already took all the parking away,” said Yvonne Mithrush,
owner of Mithrush Fashions. “They’ve got so much blocked off and so many
restrictions that people just give up and don’t come.”
The first phase of the construction project is the most complex --
replacing roadway and constructing new sidewalks.
Because funding is not secured for the final phases of the project,
estimated at $7.5 million, it’s unclear when all work will be finished.
When it is, there will be new lighting and sewers and rebuilt restrooms
at the base of the Balboa Pier. Parking spaces on Balboa Boulevard in
Balboa Village are off limits until May 2002.
* June Casagrande covers Newport Beach. She may be reached at (949)
574-4232 or by e-mail at o7 june.casagrande@latimes.comf7 .
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