Easements eased away at the Coastal Commission
By John
Davis
To everyone’s amazement the
California Coastal Commission overruled it’s own staff recommendation that
would have allowed a private business entity to obtain a public parking easement
for it’s exclusive use in Venice.
Many Venetians turned out for the hearing
and all but one acted in unison to oppose the parking give away.
There are things that pull this
community together, like the need for parking and beautification measures. Tree
planting along our main corridors of entry is something that we all can
appreciate.
All of us want to be proud of
the community we live in and share with the world. And we want a parking place
when we need it, damn it.
Anyone who
lives or visits here, especially on the weekends knows the ritual. You move into
a holding pattern like an airplane waiting to land. You try to be nice to people
you think are leaving with a wink or a wave then charge the spot and do battle
with another desirous car in the most hostile of
fashion.
The loser then shouts, honks,
or tosses obscene gestures to you as they squeal their tires in anger. But who
cares? You got a spot in Venice on a sunny
day.
So why should the City give away
public parking easements? Only a City dumber than a box of rocks would dare such
a thing.
Jim Murez was instrumental in
convincing the Coastal Commission that negative precedents would be set and
other important parking easements would soon follow in domino fashion if they
approved the City’s maniacal plan. He also provided a well thought out
multi-media presentation of all at risk parking and the community planned
greenway.
Others followed and
supported this position. My small contribution was to show that the City failed
to sign its application for a Coastal Development Permit rendering it moot
anyway.
Only one speaker, David
Buchanan of the Venice Chamber of Commerce, spoke in favor of the give away. It
was indeed sad to hear from him about all of the poor developer beggars who are
starving for public parking.
Another
related parking story is that our City Councilperson Bill Rosendahl not only
opposed the give away but also is working to open other City parking easements
up between Electric and Abbot Kinney Blvd. There is an immense wealth of public
parking that has been closed because businesses have erected fences to keep the
public out. According to the Councilperson’s Deputy, Mark-Antonio Grant,
the Office of the City Attorney is working to move the encroachers off. The two
previous Councilpersons just sat on their hands and did nothing. Rosendahl is a
real breath of fresh air for Venetians.
Posted: Wed - February 1, 2006 at 05:18 PM