NEWS FROM BELMOST SHORE

NEWS INFORMATION FROM BELMONT SHORE

We, the residents of La Verne Avenue are against the pending sale of the home at 205 La Verne Avenue (a recently remodeled home in Belmont Shore) to the City of Long Beach for the intention of turning this space into a public parking lot for 8 cars.
The city, as we understand it, has made an offer on this property which has been accepted by the sellers who are representing the estate of the deceased owner. 
Although today we are focused on 205 La Verne Avenue, we recognize that this is a Belmont Shore issue. The process of turning perfectly good homes - in this case a classic Belmont Shore bungalow - for this purpose could be repeated throughout our neighborhood, much to its detriment.
Make no mistake, we as a group of residents appreciate the Second Street business area. In fact, it is one of the major reasons we all chose to purchase our homes here. Many of us did so more than 30 or more years ago. We want to preserve the unique quality of Belmont Shore - small scale residential properties and an active commercial strip.
Our immediate goal is to stop the conversion of this one residential property into a public parking lot. First the city buys one house. Then maybe the next house on La Verne. This all stems, we believe,  from the City of Long Beach allowing new business' to open without any consideration of parking. And, it's always the residents who deal with the increase in parking.
This topic is on the agenda of the Parking Commission at their meeting on Thursday, February 20 at 9:00 a.m. at the Bay Shore Library. It will be presented as a way to utilize monies accumulated under the Mello Roos taxation of Second Street business property owners to increase parking in Belmont Shore.
We are against the demolotion of a classic Belmont Shore bungalow for this purpose.
These are the issues that concern us:

• The cost of this project (estimated to be between $600,000 and $800,000) is too much for the minor gain of 8 parking spaces. Those 8 public spaces would be a "drop in the bucket" and would not change the parking shortage in Belmont Shore in any appreciable way. We suggest that Mello Roos money could be spent with a better payback elsewhere.

• Twenty-five years ago, when the Belmont Shore business community decided to tax itself for future improvements, it was a requirement on Second Street that the conversion of a retail business to a restaurant/and or to obtain a liquor license mandated that the establishment needed to provide additional public parking for their customers. This was a formula that dictated how much parking was required based upon the square footage of the establishment. Slowly, and without any dialogue  with residents, that requirement has disappeared. As an example, a shoe store has recently become a restaurant serving food, beer and wine that attracts many customers to this area - but this establishment has provided/produced no additional public parking. Why did those laws change? Why should the residential component of our fabulous community have to bear the brunt of this correction?

• There are many underutilized parking lots in Belmont Shore. Some are privately owned. Some allow zero public parking in the evening. We could gain more than 8 spaces if the Parking Commission worked with those owners to allow public parking after business hours. And, what about re-visiting the ample public parking available in the city lost along Ocean Blvd?

Belmont Shore residents overwhelmingly oppose the destruction of classic homes for marginal increases in public parking ... and petitions are being circulated and signed.
No house anywhere in Belmont Shore should be acquired to provide more public parking.
The city, seems to have caused the problem by letting business' grow and change without any requirement to provide public parking. It is time for our representatives, the city of Long Beach and the Belmont Shore business' to work the problem out without taking our homes, devaluing our property and making us deal with the problems they have caused.
While this is a La Verne Avenue problem, it is most assuredly a Belmont Shore problem.
Submitted by Alan and Gail Mutke  - 207 La Verne Avenue, Long Beach, CA