LBREPORT.com Asks Candidates Seeking To Become Next Third District Councilmember How They'd Vote On Buying House Near 2nd St. For Parking Lot And They Said...
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(Feb. 17, 2014, 10:50 p.m.) -- At 9:17 a.m. Feb. 17, LBREPORT.com sent the five candidates seeking to become LB's next Third District Councilmember the email below, asking for their answers to two questions regarding purchase of a house at 205 La Verne Ave. (just north of 2nd St.) to put up a parking lot.
...If you had been on the Council on Nov. 5, 2013 and were brought the circumstances below in a closed session by city management, how would you have voted? If you were on the Council now, how would you vote when the action returns to you for a final vote in a public session? Although a Council majority will ultimately decide how to proceed, we presume that on a neighborhood-impacting issue, Councilmembers representing other parts of town might be inclined to follow the recommendation of the Councilmember who represents the Third District. Candidates Jim Lewis and Suzie Price, who both attended Saturday's (Feb. 15) neighborhood meeting on the matter (reported by LBREPORT.com above) replied to our questions within roughly an hour and two hours respectively: . "However, if it is zoned for parking, there is likely nothing keeping private individuals from purchasing and applying for permits to demolish the house and operate a parking lot."
"I have been attempting to educate myself further on this situation since I learned about on the evening of 2/14. I have a call into the City regarding issue and hope to meet with Jim sometime next week to get a handle on the back story here. I am mindful that there is a long history in regards to this proposal and other parking issues facing the Shore.
"I believe that public input should have been solicited before we moved through with the negotiations on the real estate transaction. It appears that the very important stakeholders, the residents, were caught off guard regarding this proposal. The folks I spoke with on Saturday seemed very surprised about this specific proposal. The lack of input from them seems to be a major factor at the moment, and as you know, lack of public input (or the appearance thereof) can prevent substantive discussions on the merits of any proposal.
"At this point, I believe the City needs to do everything possible to find out how the residents on La Verne and the surrounding streets feel about this proposal. A survey and possibly, more community meetings are two realistic ways that the City can obtain that information. In my opinion, until we know how the majority of residents feel about this, we cannot move forward.
"This decision impacts the immediate quality of life for the residents on that street and we simply should not proceed without finding out where they stand and what their ideas are on this subject.
"I believe the City should actively pursue all parking options suggested by the residents, even if it means applying for approval (for some of the options) through statewide commissions like the Coastal Commission. The likelihood of success for alternate parking solutions should not be the main driving factor. Even options that are unlikely to pass muster with the Coastal Commission should be explored and pursued. Sometimes starting the process itself leads to other options/solutions/avenues. Giving alternate parking options meaningful consideration, including making necessary applications, is critical to the process of giving the residents a meaningful voice. If the residents want the City to help facilitate or explore alternate parking options, short of paving the neighborhood homes to put up parking lots, we should do everything we can to assist them.
"I know the committee has been working diligently on mitigating parking issues in Belmont Shore. Their work is valuable and should be recognized as positive. There is no easy answer and I am certain they are doing their best. This proposal, however, has not included enough public input and I would hope that we would take the steps necessary to get public input before we move forward. I am hopeful that Councilman DeLong will do that before any final decisions are made. He seemed to indicate so on Saturday morning and I believe he will follow up with the residents on this issue. I think allowing for greater public input will minimize (unnecessary) divisiveness and dissatisfaction on the part of the residents.
And for the record: at the Feb. 15 neighborhood meeting, one of the residents shouted a question at incumbent Councilman Gary DeLong asking if he supports the purchase. "Time will tell," Councilman DeLong replied.
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