The text of the November 5 agendized item is below:

Mayor and Council adjourn to Closed Session:

Pursuant to Section 54956.8 of the California Government Code regarding a conference with the City's real property negotiator:

Property: 205 La Verne Avenue Long Beach, CA 90803
City's Negotiator: Patrick H. West, City Manager
Negotiating Parties: Vickie Wallace and the Estate of Steve Bowen
Under Negotiation: Price and Terms of Payment

When Council closed sessions are held on these grounds, Councilmembers are legally permitted only to discuss price and terms, not policy reasoning and the like. The Council can also keep details secret from the public until the deal is done. In this case, the reason why the Council did what it did but kept secret from the public in November has now been divulged by City Hall itself...in an effort to build public support for what it did.

What the Council did in November was authorize city management to make an offer on a marketed property at 205 La Verne Ave. intending to tear down a 959 sq. foot house and in its place build an eight-space parking lot. Completing the purchase is now subject to a public City Council vote.

On February 20, 2014 a City Council-created advisory body without decisionmaking power in the transaction, has an item on its agenda accompanied by an unsigned memo on the letterhead of the city management-run Public Works Department. The City memo divulges what the Council did in its November 5 closed session.

[Public Works agendizing memo text] Recommendation: Support the City of Long Beach's purchase of the property located at 205 La Verne Ave.

Discussion:

On November 5, 2013 the City of Long Beach City Council held a special meeting in closed session in conference with the City’s real property negotiator regarding property located at 205 La Verne Avenue. As a result of the closed session, an offer letter was presented to seller of the property, and was accepted, subject to contingencies. The intent of this purchase is to construct a parking lot with eight spaces.

The Belmont Shore Business Association (BSBA) and the Belmont Shore Parking and Business Improvement Area Advisory Commission (BSPBIAAC) have for many years been exploring ways to mitigate parking challenges for residents, as well as for customers shopping in Belmont Shore.

The BSPBIAAC was created with the purpose of ameliorating parking challenges, among other activities. The commission is responsible for recommending to the City opportunities to acquire land for the purpose of constructing new parking lots.

It should be noted that other parking solution options have been considered, such as utilizing the beach parking lot for employees, and preferential parking permits. However, for various reasons, none of the other potential options have proven viable. One recent solution implemented by the BSPBIAAC was the initiation of free bus passes offered to all employees of businesses in the Belmont Shore Parking and Business Improvement Area. As a result of the bus pass program, an average of 300-400 unique riders (Belmont Shore employees) each month utilize the public transit system, instead of occupying parking spaces in the Shore. Even with these successes, parking challenges remain in Belmont Shore.

RECOMMENDATION

Approve recommendation.

The "Belmont Shore Parking and Business Improvement Area Advisory Commission" was created by the City Council decades ago and through the years, Councils have historically filled it with businesspeople with business viewpoints on matters affecting business-busy and parking scarce Belmont Shore.

Residents have independently expressed their views on matters affecting their investments -- their homes and neighborhood quality of life -- through grassroots neighborhood advocates and the Belmont Shore Residents Association.

The interests of the neighboring residents and businesses have collided on more than one occasion. As one might also expect in controversies, residents and businesses may also disagree among themselves on some issues.

Earlier this week, a La Verne Ave. resident alerted media outlets and others to a meeting arrranged for this morning, (Feb. 15) in which the advisory Commission's chair, Bill Lorbeer, and a city staffer, Jim Fisk, plan to meet with some La Verne Ave. residents to discuss the planned parking lot. LBREPORT.com plans to be present to report what happens.

Residents elect a City Council representatives every four years. For the past nearly eight years, the Third Council district representative has been Councilman Gary DeLong, who will exit in mid-July under term limits. On April 8, Third District voters will choose new Councilmember; if no candidate receives over 50%, a June runoff will decide who'll take office on July 15. (Councilman DeLong recently formed a political committee to make a second run at a LB-West OC Congressional seat in which Alan Lowenthal prevailed in the November 2012 Presidential election cycle.)

Developing. Further to follow on LBREPORT.com.