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May 8, 2008 - Argentina

Green Space and Parking Access along Livingston

On Monday May 7 at the Lowell School Auditorium , 3rd District Councilman Delong hosted a meeting to discuss the future of green space and parking access along Livingston ave.

What we witnessed.

The Good: Councilman Delong did a great job in focusing the proceedings. There were 5 proposals which offered solutions to several issues but the most popular was a modified #6 .Three versions of #6 are currently on Councilman’s Delong’s web site for review and voting. http://www.ci.long-beach.ca.us/district3/default.asp

There was some positive dialog. The crowd had a few moderate voices but they were the minority. Most attendees acknowledged that the Tot Lot needs help .Plan #5 was the “Kurt Schnieter plan” If implemented, it would have provided the most green space , more parking and an improved Tot Lot This plan was a “win-win-win” .What is wrong with that idea.?

Apparently plenty;

The Bad: The plan(s) were nixed one by one, even the Church’s own plan!Several attendees stated that Belmont Shore businesses should not have any more parking, that NO change was a most preferred plan. However, as the meeting moved on, most attendees admitted some change was needed.You can read more and vote at the City of LB’s 3rd District –Gary Delong link.

Some pertinent Quotes:

“What about Ocean ave lots for Belmont Shore business employees?

“What about all those Belmont Shore garages not being used for cars?”

“What about the “North-woods’ favoritism/ grandfathered-parking spaces” deals? Speaking of Sweet deals, another asked:

“What about the church towing cars and chaining off the public for a lot that the city/public owns?”

The Church could have been a much better neighbor over the years. Only in recent months have they allowed public use.

Worse. It seemed like certain attendees had an axe to grind against the Shore Business community in general and almost sounded like personal vendetta’s. A certain “high profile”landlord repeatedly baited the crowd with “shout-speak” Others in the crowd spoke about “off-calendar” subjects. One wanted an apology by Kurt S for calling her “Lazy” (referring to incorrect quotes in the Grunion Gaz’) Partners of the gift Shop “Luna” asked about valet parking. HUH?

This was supposed to be a parking lot / Tot lot meeting NOT personal vendettas against the Parking Commission or Kurt Schneiter.

Compromise: Later on it was revealed that more attendees favored compromise Echoing this sentiment ,a letter appeared in the Grunion” Thursday May 17 from a ‘Heights homeowner and parent of young children ,a Mrs. L Stuart .She echoed what many spoke of outside the Lowell meeting. Almost all parents agreed that the Tot Lot needs improvement. Most parents feel that moving the tot lot is “not that big a deal”. Improved safety is important. A better, safer location more Easr along Livingston could help .Many Shore and Heights children are no longer “tots” but still young enough to benefit from a play zone A larger play zone with canopy, was part of the #5 plan .Mrs Stuart also thinks, like so many, that a public rest room is needed. With the Parking commission involved, the likelihood of an improved Child play zone with rest rooms was a much higher probability .These improvements do not come cheap.

The bottom line : despite what the Grunion Gazette says ,headline : ”NO CHANGES LIKELY”

( see Article http://www.gazettes.com/livingston05102007.html)

Belmontvoice.com predicts that the Church lot will change,and It has

The Church now wants to be a better neighbor and forget about all those Tow threat” letter(s) and Locking the chain/ lot.

What is next? The highest probability is that the Tot lot will get help but not soon. The Church lot will improve for the public and that act could lead to an improvement in the Devils triangle traffic confluence (at The Toledo / Livingston and Argonne).

. At the May 17 PC meeting , the PC agreed that they have no interest in putting meters in the Church lot . What about the “long debated”/ Use the Ocean ave lots for Shore-Biz employee parking? That solution with take creativity and compromise.

Despite being a good idea., Ocean ave employee parking will probably happen as quick as all Belmont Shore residents using garages for cars.

To Faux-quote an old patriot : now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their Beach Town. We know that there are many local homeowners who care.We at Belmont voice are here to help..we can direct and point.

Mansionization

According to a local high quality home expert: "What constitutes a mansion? 3000 Square .Ft 3500? 4000? A properly scaled 3000-3500 sq ft home on a 6500 ft lot with quality landscaping and reverence to history ,adds value to a street "

The Consultants for the General Plan Update say about the look of a street: " to preserve value, a street should reflect the predominate look of that street and utilize historically accurate construction materials "

Many recent house rennovations were done on very old structures not worth saving.yet some owners tried to save some of the original house.

Specific examples,seen around The Heights :

( 290's blk Argonne -2 Story )The owners agonized over tearing down the old structure .The designer tried and tried, but in the end, upgrading and remodeling the original house was simply not going to work.

( 310's blk Quincy-1 story Craftsman ) Owners tried to retain the original 1920's era structure/front house but after a few weeks under construction ,the old wood had too much dry rot and termite damage.

( 340's blk Quincy-2 Story Spanish )Owners have retained the original Spanish style and wood in the front at very high cost, higher than if they started with dirt.

The "Mansion" article by Joe Segura /Press Telegram, mentioned the Gensemer house (250-300 blk Quincy) That full sized lot had a tiny 1 bedroom shack in poor condition. The Front page photo showed both the Gensemer home and the house next door.The "historic house" pictured is a stucco coated Craftsman with steel security screen door and aluminum windows .According to historical information,Craftsman houses were not coated in stucco, had wooden windows and no bars or steel in the 1920's.

The Gensemer home has many historically reverent features, was top quality construction and adds value to the street.

Bottom line: Many feel that style and quality of materials are important factors that can mitigate the replacment of a shack with a large nice house.

Solution :adjust lot coverage percentages(Scale of the house -to land coverage),add a few "curb appeal" design standards and ask the planning and building to enforce such standards rather than rubber stamp cheap construction .

Suggestions: contact Coffee Talk Editor

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