City to Consider Greenbelt Parking

The line has been drawn.

It’s been painted in red along the curbs in Old Town Seal Beach, eating up parking spaces and exacerbating the parking shortage that plagues Old Town residents. Increased red curb striping has residents and city officials once again looking to allow for permanent parking along the Electric Avenue greenbelt, and, as it has been in the past, it is a divisive issue.

The City will hold a community meeting at 6 p.m. Thursday in City Council Chambers, inviting residents to offer their thoughts on how to improve parking in Old Town.

“The meeting is to discuss parking along the greenbelt,” said Assistant City Manager Sean Crumby. “We aren’t proposing anything or reaching any decisions. We are really encouraging people to come out and express what they want.”

For much of the last year, residents and beach visitors have been able to park along the greenbelt because of the Electric Avenue water pipe construction project that tore up chunks of the street and blocked parking spaces. The project is officially completed this week, but  residents and visitors are still allowed to park along the greenbelt.

There are two projects that create the need for temporary greenbelt parking including the red striping being painted along curbs in Old Town to improve fire truck access and an upcoming project to repave the Ocean Avenue alley, said Crumby. The alley project will temporarily displace dozens of resident from their parking spots and garages.

Permanent greenbelt parking is a controversial proposal. Some residents worry about  the safety of having cars line the greenbelt, which teems with children, dog walkers and pickup ball games during the summer. Others hope it will alleviate parking, one of the few drags on the quality of life for beach residents. Furthermore, residents living to the north of the greenbelt hope it would deter residents from the densely populated area south of the greenbelt from taking up parking spaces to the north.

When the topic came up at a community meeting last fall, former City Councilman Charles Antos said residents and city officials had explored the issue in the past but found it too dangerous for pedestrians because the parked cars make it hard to see people coming to and from the greenbelt.