Marine Advisory Commisioners Unanimously Sign Letter Urging Mayor/Council To Rethink Narrowing Marina Drive, Residents Amplify That Concern And More As City Staff Outlines Upcoming "Alamitos Bay Parking/Circulation Master Plan"
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(May 24, 2019, 2:45 p.m.) -- City staff (with no electeds visible) received public pushback at a May 23 meeting of LB's Marine Advisory Commission when city staff outlined its upcoming "Alamitos Bay Parking and Circulation Master Plan." Among the issues raised by residents was city staff's controversial plan to narrow Marina Drive for what City Hall planners call a "complete street" (adding a sidewalk, bike lanes and diagonal parking) by cutting four traffic lanes to two. Area residents often use Marina Dr. to bypass the chronically congested 2nd/PCH intersection, where traffic is expected to worsen when combined with the soon-to-be-completed 2nd/PCH commercial development.
The May 23 meeting drew a large crowd to the LB Yacht Club after a March meeting on the Master Plan, initially planned for boat owners, came to public attention and was canceled and rescheduled for public participation.
The Marine Advisory Commission's May 23 meeting comes in the wake of its May 6 letter -- signed by all eight of its Mayor-chosen, Council-approved Commission members -- addressed to LB Mayor Robert Garcia, cc'd to the City Council as well as to the CA Coastal Commission (which will ultimately decide whether to approve City Hall's Master Plan) and also cc'd City Manager Pat West, Development Services Dir. Pat West, Parks/Rec/Marine Dir. Gerardo Mouet and Marinas/Beaches Mgr. Elvira Hallinan.
We recommend that either the present four-lane configuration of Marina Drive be maintained or, at the very least, remove the planned diagonal parking along the Second and PCH project. We feel that the diagonal parking will have the largest negative impact on traffic flow. We agree that the planned right and left turn lanes should be constructed to facilitate access to the ABM. We also applaud the installation of parking meters, with proper concessions to boat owners who are already paying monthly fees to use the lot.
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At the May 23 meeting, city staff sought to focus attention on its Master Plan (outlined in a Power Point visible here) but most of the public testimony focused on boat owner parking lot issues and city staff's insistence on narrowing Marina Dr. to create a "complete street."
Public speakers Melinda Cotton, Anna Christensen and Corliss Lee voiced concerns over the Marina Dr. issue. Ms. Cotton also noted that when the 2nd/PCH development opens in October, there's no current plan to keep its customers/employees from using the Alamitos Bay Parking lot (6 a.m. to 10 p.m.) for free.
Boat owners cited Marina parking lot issues, including the size of vehicle parking spaces and difficulty in maneuvering in the parking lot (with one couple also citing the narrowing of Marina Dr. as a problem.) Prior to Ballast Point's arrival in 2016, boat owners enjoyed a near-empty parking lot for themselves and guests; the lot is now more heavily used by customers of Boathouse by the Bay and Malainey's Grill and Bar, and the Oct. 2019 opening of a San Pedro Fish Market location is expected to bring additional traffic and parking issues. Boathouse on the Bay proprietor John Morris also testified that newly-begun LBTransit Aqualink service had resulted in some people using the Marina lot for parking before heading downtown.
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Regarding the popular weekly Farmers Market in the parking lot, Deputy Director Economic and Property Development Sergio Ramirez indicated talks are taking place about possibly relocating it but didn't provide details.
Some speakers argued that the City had approved the 2nd & PCH Project without sufficient parking and said the 2nd/PCH project was effectively depending on the Marina parking Lot to accommodate its parking needs. Naples residents voiced concerns that if meters were placed in a parking lot near the Yacht Club, the club's visitors and Boy Scout site would park in their neighborhood, taking away resident parking.
City staff's insistence on turning Marina Drive into a narrowed "complete street" (adding sidewalk, bike lanes and diagonal parking spaces) has begat non-traffic-focused opposition from (among others) Ann Cantrell on grounds that it will result in move a number of palm trees used in nesting season by Great Blue Herons. Ms. Cantrell and others appealed the issue to the Coastal Commission, which sided with them in imposing a number of conditions on the city proceeding with its street project. Ms. Cantrell and others then spent hours at the location, captured photographs showing use of the trees right now for nesting, and forwarded them to the CA Dept. of Fish & Game, which sent the City a sternly worded letter cautioning the City against proceeding with the street-narrowing project.
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