The City’s application for a Coastal Development Permit for Venice OPDs will be before the California Coastal Commission on Thursday, June 13, at 8:30 AM at the Long Beach City Council chambers. This action will settle the lawsuit the VSA brought against the Commission for its earlier denial of an OPD for Venice.
Even if your street does not currently have a problem with
non-resident cars taking up parking, we ask that you support your neighbors in
other areas of Venice
who continue to face a lack of parking at night. OPD will allow residents to park closer to
their homes and supports public safety.
PLEASE DO THE FOLLOWING:
1.
Speak
in favor of OPD at the
Commission’s hearing on Thursday, June 13, at 8:30 AM at the Long Beach City
Council chambers at
333 West Ocean Boulevard.
2.
Email
this message to Jack Ainsworth at jainsworth@coastal.ca.gov
“I am a Venice
resident and I support Overnight Restricted Parking (OPD) for Venice.”
3. Go to www.venicenc.org
and vote for OPD.
4.
Write a letter to the Commission explaining
the parking issues on your block that overnight restricted parking would address:
Members of the California Coastal Commission
200 Oceangate, 10th Floor
Long Beach, CA 90802-4416
Long Beach, CA 90802-4416
Background:
The Venice Stakeholders Assn. and the
City have reached a settlement with the California Coastal Commission staff
that will allow Venice
residents to implement overnight
restricted parking (OPD) on their streets. Commission staff is recommending
approval of the settlement and a revised Coastal Development Permit. The
Coastal Commission must formally approve the settlement at their June meeting
on the 13th.
How OPDs work: If residents
on your block petition by a two-thirds majority, the City will post signage
that will limit parking from 2 AM to 5 AM to residents and their guests who
have a permit. Annual permits are $15; temporary four month permits for
visitors are $10; and nightly permits (for late night parties, etc.) are
$1.
With the “No Oversize Vehicle”
signage, we found that those in campers and RVs won’t park in a street space in
the early evening if they cannot spend the entire night in that space. We
expect the OPD signs to work the same way, encouraging non-residents to seek
out other parking in the early evening instead of parking in front of our homes
at night (which is also a noise problem when non-residents leave
bars/restaurants late at night).
The settlement in the OPD lawsuit assures the Coastal Commission that hundreds of empty parking
spaces near the beach will continue to be available to early morning visitors
by exempting from OPD eligibility certain metered spaces and street spaces in
front of government/commercial uses within three blocks of the beach. Under the
settlement, the City also agrees to accelerate the installation of bike lanes
and to open six City-owned parking lots for early morning visitors, freeing up
hundreds of spaces for visitors.
If you have any questions, please call Venice Stakeholders Association at (310) 392
4843 or email venicestakeholders@ca.rr.com.
Please make a donation to the VSA at
venicestakeholdersassociation.org to help cover the legal costs of the
litigation and negotiating the settlement.
