City Preps Residents to Defend Beach Parking Zones

By Jorge Casuso

On the surface, it seemed just another meeting of city staff and their constituents.

But with seven Ocean Park preferential parking zones on the line - all of them more than 10 years old -, Saturday's meeting at the Ken Edwards Center was anything but routine.

Instead of just providing information and listening to concerns, planning department staff helped coach and organize some three dozen residents for a crucial Coastal Commission meeting Tuesday morning.

After a year's delay, the commission finally will decide the fate of 936 preferential parking spaces south of Pico Boulevard and east of Lincoln Boulevard that were created by the city without commission approval between 1983 and 1989. The commission discovered the spaces in 1998, while considering the Edgemar Development project on Main Street.

"Don't be exclusionary," Planning Director Suzanne Frick advised the residents. "What is important is to put a face on this issue. We don't want to alienate this commission."

Among the key points city staff encouraged residents to make are the dearth of street parking, the availability of parking in beach lots and the make up of the community (it is not just rich homeowners).

Residents who spoke at Saturday's meeting said they feared that if preferential parking is revoked they wouldn't be able to move their cars or entertain guests, especially on weekends, because there will often be nowhere to park near their homes.

"I can't leave during the day, but there are empty spaces on the beach," said one resident who lives in a zone near Main Street with no daytime restrictions. "As usual, the residents are going to be caught in the middle of this squabble."

While there are 2,400 spaces in Ocean Park's two beach lots, it costs $7 to park ($6 during the winter.) By comparison, unrestricted street parking is free.

Frick, however, warned against bringing up the underused lot, saying that lowering the rates - which already are cheaper than the rates at Venice Beach and Will Rogers State Park - is not on the table.

She did encourage residents who blamed the parking woes not on beach goers, but on employees and customers of Main Street businesses, to speak out on Tuesday.

"It's a major impact," said Roger Genser, a 22-year resident of Ocean Park who helped organize the first Ocean Park zone in 1983. "It was a reaction against Main Street. It had nothing to do with beach parking."

Tuesday's decision will center on whether Santa Monica's zones restrict access to the beach, which the Coastal Commission was created in 1976 to protect.

Commission staff has recommended that the seven zones be retained - with the caveat that the city must reapply for the permits in three years. The city opposes that condition, saying it would be too costly, inhibit long-range planning and leave residents in limbo. Instead city staff is proposing to conduct a parking monitoring program and file a report within five years.

Commission staff also is requiring the city to create 154 spaces to help replenish those taken up by preferential parking. Of these, 65 already have been created. The city also must keep the Tide and Pier beach shuttles running during the summer months.

While Coastal Commission staff seems sympathetic to the plight of beach area residents, it is impossible to predict what the commission will do, Frick said. One warning sign was a complaint by a commissioner who visited the beach to watch the sunset and found no place to park.

"We've been discussing this with the staff for a year and a half," Frick said. "I think this really boils down to philosophical issues with the commission."

Although the city has been negotiating with commission staff, it also has made it clear that it is prepared to file a lawsuit if the commission revokes the zones.

"We have a difference of legal opinion as to whether the Coastal Commission even has authority," Frick said. "We would prefer to go through the process and have a positive outcome."

Since the Coastal Act was passed in 1976, the Coastal Commission has required cities to apply for permits for the special parking zones.

Historically, the Coastal Commission has granted permission for preferential parking zones in coastal communities, often imposing strict conditions to ensure plenty of public parking and beach access.

Since 1982 the commission has approved three applications from Hermosa Beach, Santa Cruz and Capitola. The commission, however, has denied preferential parking permits for Santa Monica's closest neighbors - Venice to the south and Pacific Palisades to the north.

In 1998 approximately 7.5 million visitors flocked to Santa Monica beaches. Over the past 28 years beach attendance has grown by 20 percent.

City Manager Susan McCarthy, who did not attend the meeting, said it would be "unforgivable" if residents weren't prepared given what's at stake.

"The Coastal Commission has a relatively clear mission laid out in the law, and in this situation, it may not be a mission that is sympathetic," McCarthy said. "This would certainly be a profound change."

The Coastal Commission will meet Tuesday at 10 a.m. at the Four Points Sheraton, 530 Pico Blvd.

Staff writer Teresa Rochester contributed to this report.

School Board Okays Strategic Move

By Teresa Rochester

In a move that virtually ensures the City Council will approve a $2.1 million bailout grant for the school district, the Board of Education Thursday directed staff to look at creating a financial oversight committee.

The move came after school and city officials -- with the help of civic leaders -- hammered out the plan in time to secure the money at next Tuesday's council meeting in order to avert painful staff and program cuts.

The Malibu City Council is expected to allocate $150,000 at its meeting Monday night. Unlike the general conditions proposed by Santa Monica officials, the Malibu grant will have extensive strings attached.

"I believe it would be very helpful to direct me in my discussions with the city councils," Schmidt told the board when he suggested the oversight committee. "I've only heard support and understanding for the financial situations we are having."

Banking on the fact the district will get the money from Santa Monica and Malibu, Superintendent Neil Schmidt told the board he would not present the revised cut list, which members were scheduled to review Thursday night.

"I don't think it was pertinent or appropriate for me to present the revised list and then send out layoff notices and have to rescind them a week later," Schmidt said.

"We can delay action for a week and we are well within the legal timelines for us to meet in order to take prudent action," he said. "Staff is prepared to make those recommendations next week if we have to. We hope we don't."

The financial oversight committee would be charged with reviewing district practices and data and making recommendations to the school board.

Schmidt said he has contacted the County Board of Education, School Services and the School Board Association about reviewing budget and enrollment projections.

The superintendent also proposed putting together a committee consisting of six to eight residents who have expertise in the area of finance and would be assisted by district staff in compiling their information.

"We believe they will come in and say, 'Hey you are doing a great job,'" Schmidt said. "But based on the concerns expressed by people we need to have someone come in and look over our shoulder."

Board members acknowledged the need for oversight but were concerned about the cost and the possibility of spreading staff too thin.

"I don't want to give the wrong message. We absolutely have to do this," board member Pam Brady said. "But everybody is stretched so thin. How are we going to accomplish this?"

"I think we need to be reassured about who will cover the cost," said former board president Margaret Quinones.

Parents and residents also supported the idea for more district oversight.

"I hope you're doing more than hoping for the city's bailout," John Muir parent Barbara Matthews said. "I hope you are working on a real plan to present to the city. I would hope you will establish an ongoing dialogue with the city of Santa Monica and the city of Malibu. And finally I hope you listen to the public."