Parking for resort irks shoppers

Barbara Diamond

Since the Montage Resort and Spa and Treasure Island Park opened,

customers at Aliso Creek Plaza shopping center can’t find a place to

park, causing headaches for everyone, including the center’s tenants,

who think their businesses are suffering.

“I stood at the signal and watched 27 groups of people cross to

the park in one hour,” said Sid Fanarof, owner of Z Pizza. “It will

get worse when the parking meters are put in on the highway.”

The City Council took swift action on Tuesday under the city’s

urgency ordinance to preserve parking on two vacant lots across the

street from the resort and park. All construction on the lots was put

on hold for at least 45 days, and the moratorium may be extended.

Attorney Dennis D. O’Neil said the action was hasty and unfair to

a property owner whose project on the old Unocal site had already

been submitted to the city.

Action taken under the city’s urgency ordinance is not a new

tactic, Community Development Director Kyle Butterwick said. It is

used to give the city some breathing room to study the zoning

standards, land uses and possibly make changes, he said. It requires

a 4/5 vote of the council.

The parcels at 30782 and 30802 S. Coast Highway are the only

additional spaces available for public parking in the area, council

members said, and the two must be kept available until parking needs

for the resort and park are evaluated.

As a result of the hold, fees the developer paid to the city were

ordered returned.

City Manager Ken Frank said that 70 public parking spaces, 39

under the park view deck and 31 on the southern section of hotel’s

highway frontage road, will become available today.

“We will be starting a three-hour limit, and I think that will

free up a lot of public spaces.” Frank said.

Mayor Toni Iseman said the city is obliged to protect its

resident-serving businesses threatened by the scarcity of parking at

the shopping center.

“Neighbors up the hill are upset and they say they won’t shop in

the center any more,” said Brad Triska, owner of Animal Crackers in

the center. “We thought Montage would bring in business. It’s not.”

Rebecca Meekma told the council that parking had worsened with the

opening.

“I am one those residents and customers who is cranky about it,”

she said.

The council’s decision to temporarily halt development on the

former Unocal site stemmed from complaints presented at the Feb. 25

council meeting by business owners in the center.

“The hotel is magnificent, but I couldn’t find a parking space for

15 minutes in my own lot,” Fanarof said.

Fifteen customers complained to the Albertson’s supermarket when

the park and resort were opened to the public, the store manager

said.

“I have the same concerns,” said veterinarian Susan Davis, who has

a clinic in the shopping center.

Completion of the resort should help end the lack of parking

spaces by workers and storage of construction materials, Frank said.

However, that may not be any time soon, with the construction of

private homes in the offing.

“If it is like this in winter, what will it be like in summer?”

Iseman asked.

Councilman Wayne Baglin suggested the construction moratorium.

“We have a critical situation here that is harmful to public

health and safety,” he said. “It’s ironic that Albertson’s moved from

the worst parking lot in Laguna Beach and now this happens. We should

encourage towing and stop it now.”

Albertson’s former location, on the 700 block of South Coast

Highway, was frequently used by beachgoers.

Council members expressed concern that the problem may overflow

into adjacent neighborhoods and onto public streets.

“Neighbors should notify the council if hotel visitors or

employees are parking on their streets,” Baglin said.

Iseman had previously urged the council to consider purchasing the

gas station lot for public parking.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Fanarof warned that center tenants are

prepared to tow vehicles that are parked in their lot if the crunch

is not solved. He also said that the tenants will consider ending an

agreement with the resort that gives it 25 parking spaces under

Albertson’s, if those spaces are needed for center customers.

“People know about those spaces, and some of the people you see

crossing the highway at Wesley Street may be coming from there,”

Frank said.

The resort developers had made a deal before the opening to rent

the spaces under the market and then made a temporary deal to use the

now-vacant Unocal parcel. The resort is also providing a shuttle bus

for employees who park their vehicles at the Aliso Beach lot, Frank

said.

Once the Athens Group removes its trailers from the area between

the shopping center and the former gas station, that space also would

become available. Its parking lot is already used daily.