HB Independent 12/4 News Article On The CEQA Suit
Here’s an article by Britney Barnes from the LA Times / HB Independent announcing the suit late last week.
http://www.hbindependent.com/articles/2009/12/04/top_stories/hbi-lawsuit121009.txt
Categories: In The News
CEQA Suit, Downtown HB Litigation, HB Independent, Huntington Beach
Having lived a half a block from the old Golden Bear from 1984 until redevelopment began in 1988 I’m well aware of what happens when the bars let out. What needs to happen is bar patrons need to be redirected to a street level parking area. If the city offered free parking in their garage to anyone from 8:00 PM to 2:00 AM it would help some.
The problem is most will not park there since they feel the police will be there to arrest them, which they should. I feel we could experiment using the beach side parking across from the Strand to allow them to park free until 2:00 AM, currently is closes at 12:00 PM. If this went well the city could open do the same for the city parking lot south of Duke’s on PCH.
Keeping the bar patrons redirected away from the residential streets would solve a number of problems and hopeful save some money, since we would need less police. The parking lot would be rowdy and would need to have a police presence to keep order. They (the drunks) would still be loud and might still pee outside but it would be at the beach, and there are facilities at that location. The police role at these free parking areas should shift to being more concerned about people getting home safe than making arrests. But anyone caught in the residential area would be dealt with in a more severe manner.
It would be nice if we could continue to receive the revenue from the bars and at the same time keep our neighboorhoods safe and clean.
Clem Dominguez
Clem –
I think your suggestion makes a lot of sense. The city has recently gone to a flat rate parking fee in the Main St structure which still pushes bar patrons into the neighborhoods to park. Offering free parking after 6pm in the Main St structure and also on the beach side may encourage bar patrons to stay out of the neighborhoods.
However, all that said, many bar patrons park away from Main Street (in the neighborhoods) to keep their distance from the police. I suppose they want to lessen their chances of getting a DUI when they leave drunk – common sense.
I think a three prong approach of offering the free parking, locking down the downtown area with a check point every few weeks and putting two police on bicycle patrol during weekend nights would make a big difference. Although the city due to budget cuts is reducing police presence.