Garages are for cars, not storage
I am writing in response to your Editor’s Notebook, “Seal Beach: All Love, no parking” (Sun News, Thurssday, Oct. 15). I come from a multi-generation family of California natives. We spent our summers on the Balboa Peninsula, and as a child (50 + years ago) we were moving guest vehicles around in order to provide parking for visitors. However, our garage always had our car inside. Living in a high density area such as the Balboa Peninsula, or, Old Town Seal Beach, brings the issue of parking to our attention on many weekends and throughout the summer/holiday months.
We have been residents of Seal Beach Old Town for over 35 years. I walk almost daily to Main Street, then to the Library, then to Pavilions or CVS, then home. I can count on one hand the number of times I have taken a car to run errands or buy groceries locally. My feet still work.
I share your concerns with a lack of parking. However, one cannot fit a size 12 into a size 8. I believe a major cause of limited street parking has to do with how we live, acquire things, store those possessions, and must then deal with the results of “too much.” You said in your article, “ I do have a garage—one car—but that is where our bikes and camping equipment and Christmas decorations and gardening supplies live.”
Our neighbor on one side provides garage and off-street parking. The other side. . . . .a deteriorating multi-resident building with tenants who fail to use the garages and whose vehicles at times extend over or onto the sidewalks.
We strive to be good citizens, not merely by keeping our cars off the streets, but also, not using them and not collecting so much stuff that we cannot use our garage. For the past 35 years, two cars have always been in the garage. We keep and store only what is necessary.
Please do not ask our city to provide yet another liberal, progressive, entitled benefit . . . a place to store our Christmas decorations, camping gear, and gardening supplies because in essence that is what you are asking. What is the city code. . . . Are you required to provide and use your garage for the purpose for which it was designed. . . . to house your car?
Thanks for asking for ideas. Short of multi-story parking structures, or, off-site lots and busing us in, or, let’s take over part of the Navy base, or, keep tourists or visitors out, or limit families to husband/wife/combination/one child/no elderly or disabled who need cars . . . . I know there is a solution out there but storage of Christmas decorations and gardening supplies in spaces designed for cars does not help. Our consumer mentality is a major contributing factor, which expresses itself in an area such as Old Town Seal Beach. Picture Catalina Island and Avalon where the number of vehicles allowed is strictly enforced. Even there, congestion is found due to the number of electric and small golf type vehicles.
I truly believe that if residents were to utilize their garages to park their cars, we would see a vast improvement.
You might want to share with your readers the fact that parking and driving on public roads are not “rights” but rather “privileges” granted by the State. It will require each owner and operator of a vehicle to exercise respect for their fellow residents and not take up space on our streets when they have an alternative … a garage.
Joe Lazzari
Seal Beach
Build a parking garage with fees
I was glad you discussed our portion of the city’s parking problem; believe me, it has been brought up numerous times in the 13 years I have lived here. We live on 15th at Electric just north of the alley, and you are getting a lot more street sweeping than we are. Our side of 15th Street gets swept once every two weeks. That means a car can be parked in front of our house for 13 days without moving, assuming it has the parking pass that costs only $15 per year.
There is very little incentive to have residents use their own garage for parking. So people park their $30,000 car on the street and use the garage to store $3,000 worth of junk. You could buy a junker van, park it on the street, and put your bike and stuff in it. Then you could park it over on Seal Beach Boulevard with the rest of them on street sweeping days.
This does raise the real issue of parking in Old Town Seal Beach. When is the city going to address this and how? How much money has been collected over the years in the City’s Parking Development Fund?
Since I moved to Seal Beach 13-years ago I have purchase two “Parking Stickers,” each of the 13 years. I was told the city has collected nearly $100,000 per year with the “Sticker Program” plus about another $25,000 from the “merchants parking in lieu” fund. If that amount has been accruing over this time period, the city should have a parking structure fund of about $1.5 million that should be used to build a three-story structure on the north side of the pier in the parking lot below the proposed memorial garden.
If the $1.5 mil is not enough, a revenue bond with annual payments collected from the parking fees funding the amount required. Just a thought, by the way, parking structures cost about $20,000 per space, on land furnished by the city, in a multi-story parking structure. Parking for 150 cars would cost $3 million. Hope something gets started. If the city would get real about the parking permits they should cost about $50 per year for residents and $100 per year for guests and contractors’ vehicles. This would provide the funds for even more parking structures. A storage lot would charge about $70 per month to store your personal vehicle outside ($840 per year).
Pat Kearns
Seal Beach
Another call to build a parking garage
You’ve listed the problems with parking in Seal Beach, which are:
• Main Street parking,
• Losses of business customers
• Near-home parking,
• Worst time, summer
• Street sweeping
• Ticketing, “illegal” parking, etc.
= FRUSTRATION
This could be a solution to alleviate much of the problem:
About seven or eight years ago, I looked into the possibility of creating and funding a Veterans Memorial Park on a small portion of Eisenhower Park. I discussed this concept and the approximate costs with two of the then-Chamber presidents. They both thought highly of the idea.
An additional idea was to build a two-level parking garage over the present open parking area adjacent to the Park (down near the beach.) This is where many of the beach-goers go but many park their cars on Main Street, instead, taking away from potential shoppers or visits to professional firms.
Unfortunately, along came the recession and tight money, which postponed all further discussion.
I believe the improving economy and the current frustration of shoppers and sellers will gladly welcome these ideas and help to finance them. I can show you the plans and cost estimates.
Bill Thomas
Los Alamitos
Parking a problem in Leisure World too
The “Editor’s Notebook” in the Sun News on Oct. 15 (“Seal Beach: All Love, no parking”) was very interesting. Just to remind everyone it was about parking problems in Seal Beach. And to quote: “so, parking can be frustrating on a daily basis for anyone coming to Old Town.” However, it can be more than frustrating to those who live in the 55+ Community on Golden Rain Road.
Last week, I noticed that the Home Delivered Meals car did not or could not stop on Golden Rain Road to deliver to a “home bound” person living there. Of course, everyone knows that the curbing is painted red and signs appear along the curbs and posted on the posts as well stating: “NO PARKING OR STOPPING.” And the “Gates and Patrol” employees wearing video cameras can give a citation to anyone who stops there.
Just to let everyone know that about a year ago, the OC Fire Authority Chief gave a talk at a 55+ Community Committee meeting regarding the postings. The Chief stated that it really should not be a problem. If someone stops at the red curb to let someone off or to deliver something like home delivered meals and another person remains in the car NO PROBLEM. Then he gave the example of the area at McGaugh School on Bolsa Avenue in Seal Beach. As he explained, the children’s parents are picking them up while waiting in the car.
As I recall, this red curb item started in July 2013 after the 55+ Community Foundation hired a company to do a “Traffic Study.” Before that time there were two lanes on each side of Golden Rain Road without red painted curb. The red painted curbs were only near the fire hydrates on either side of the road.
But now anyone trying to deliver a meal has to park their car on a side street and run down or up Golden Rain Road to deliver that meal. Talk about no parking! Go figure in this “wonderful” 55+ Community!
Carol Franz
Leisure World
Ball dropped on brick notification
Let me preface by saying I applaud the efforts for the Centennial and hope it was a success, based on the fireworks show we heard from our Huntington Harbour home. It sounded grand.
That being said my family and I are very dismayed, disappointed, and feel cheated to honor my parents (25 year residents dad 102 years old and mom 95) based on a lack of communication or just ignorance from the City’s Centennial organization.
We signed up for a brick at the Pier on March 6, 2015 and received confirmation (which I have, and the check quickly cashed) on March 11, 2015 as well as follow up emails which re-iterated that we would be notified when the dedication would happen. Well, low and behold, we happened to get the Sun delivered to our home Thursday morning Oct. 22 as always, with the front page article on the dedication that evening! How can you possibly get ready for this with a six-hour notice after being told that you would get “email” notification, but instead find out by the tabloid in your driveway on the very day of the event!
What an insult to our family! No advance notice as promised—just a joke as far as I am concerned. We are heartbroken for my parents as 25 year residents and non-stop Main Street and Pier junkies, as with ourselves frequent visitors and shoppers in Old Town.
Centennial Committee “you” dropped the ball big time, no excuse!
Our family would appreciate a response on your behalf for this lapse of what is unacceptable in our eyes.
Drew Kovacs
Huntington Harbour
on behalf of Stephen and Eleonore Kovacs
Leisure World resident scared by spending
“Philosophy of Spending,” a presentation made to the Golden Rain Foundation, appears to be nothing more than a justification for rapidly growing administrative costs. The focus was on cost-saving and cost-cutting. We are a retirement community in the heart of Seal Beach and like the “Mayberry-by-the-Sea” reputation, we’re not a Fortune 500 company, we are retirement housing for today and tomorrow. A look at the proposed 2016 budget and the clear and present danger is exposed. A page titled: “Expenses you can’t change” sums up the goals. Whether a shareholders or a child, Americans need to acknowledge certain facts:
• No cost-of-living increase for only the third time in 40 years for Social Security recipients.
• Medicare Part B will increase by almost 50 percent. Life savings dwindle as residents absorb a higher cost of living. Add to this increase in assessments—GRF 3.1 percent and unprecedented amounts in the Mutuals. In 2016 the cost of Medical Insurance for employees will increase by 12 percent.
• Is this fair? In other companies, employees absorb all the benefit costs.
• The GRF Monthly Assessment is funded by shareholders.
• Has any company ever survived this type of administrative spending?
A clear and present danger is the spending both by the GRF and our paid employees of our Reserve Fund (money collected from the shareholders for our “rainy day” fund).
“Accelerated Reserve expenditures” is another “new” term. If, for example, the remaining life of concrete is 10 years, we should spend $50,000 to replace it now. Another example is the more than $33,000 that will be spent to refurbish the Golden Rain News office building. Certainly, we have a broad range of income, age, and interests. What we have in common as shareholders is a need to replace the original components, some of which are health and fire hazards. Additionally, we have dry rot, termites and antiquated equipment. A new “Philosophy of Spending” for the “hired help” while the owners/shareholders live in rack and ruin will bring on the Special Assessment.
Mark Pogrebinsky
Leisure Word
Reader appreciates newspaper editing
I deeply appreciate Sun News publishing my articles occasionally. Good editing is manifested.
My family, friends, neighbors and colleagues are impressed reading my articles that they reflect me. They commented that it was how it used to be when Dave Saunders was the editor-in-chief at the Golden Rain News.As a teacher with writing ability, good editing is very important to me. It surely reflects my personality. I had the opportunity to appreciate and enjoy writing for the Golden Rain News when good editing was around.
The Sun News’ varieties of colorful stories for young and older generations enhance and broaden my horizon in the field of every aspect of life and entertainment. Very conducive and informative for mixed generations. Good newspapers are an intellectual choice.
Lisa A. Dickson
Leisure World
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