Off-site parking review stalled

Barbara Diamond

A proposal to revisit off-site parking for Downtown businesses didn’t

even come to a vote during the last City Council meeting.

“Been there, done that,” said Councilman Wayne Baglin, who opposed

doing it again.

A City Council straw vote was evenly split -- Councilman Steve

Dicterow was absent -- so no formal vote was taken.

Councilwoman Elizabeth Pearson sponsored the proposal to have the

Planning Commission look at off-site parking as she had announced she

would when she unsuccessfully appealed the denial of a Subway on

Broadway. The denial was based on the lack of on-site parking.

“What I am most interested in is the off-site parking ordinance we

used to have,” Pearson said. “If it were not for that ordinance, we

would not have the only bookstore in the Downtown.

“I am looking for some flexibility if approached by a resident

serving business.”

City Atty. Philip Kohn opined that off-site parking could be used

as an incentive for resident-serving businesses.

“Defining resident-serving could take a whole year,” Councilwoman

Toni Iseman said.

Community Development Director John Montgomery said businesses

such as barber shops, small appliance or shoe repair shops, or beauty

salons clearly serve the residents. Other business he said, are

crossovers that serve residents and tourists.

“If Subway is defined as a resident-serving business, what isn’t?”

resident Bonnie Hano asked.

Off-site parking in the city was repealed Oct. 15, 2002, making it

mandatory to satisfy parking requirements in other ways. The City

Council would need to amend the parking regulations to allow off-site

parking, according to a memo from City Manager Ken Frank to Pearson.

Besides which, the city is in the midst of a significant Downtown

parking and traffic management study that could affect many of the

city’s parking programs and regulations, including various special

parking permit programs, Frank said.

Some of the changes will require amendments to the Downtown

Specific Plan and approval by the California Coastal Commission.

The general list of flexible parking includes shared use, joint

use, valet parking, payment in-lieu of parking spaces with the

revenue earmarked for construction of parking facilities, credits for

outdoor dining and off-site parking. Off-site parking is the only

flexible parking tool the city does not use, Frank said.

Mayor Cheryl Kinsman, who supported Pearson’s proposal, said the

city’s previous off-site parking regulation had flaws.

“But there are situations where off-site parking should be

allowed,” Kinsman said. “The parking lot behind Gene’s Market was

off-site because it is on the other side of the alley.”

Aliso Viejo Councilman Greg Ficke faced the same problem when he

applied for a conditional-use permit to open another Subway. The

Planning Commission credited him with three parking spaces, phantoms

“grand fathered” in from a previous use, and another three spaces for

outdoor dining facilities. That left him 11 spaces short.

Spaces were available in the parking lot behind the Sprouse

Building, but the lot was not on the same parcel as the proposed

Subway and the application was denied by the Planning Commission. An

appeal to the City Council filed by Pearson on Ficke’s behalf was

also denied.