Parking Meters

Barbara Diamond An experiment to improve parking in a midtown neighborhood got a green light Tuesday from the city council, which voted unanimously to figure out if removing parking meters from Glenneyre Street would improve parking for residents, beachgoers and businesses. The council will hire a consultant to bag meters to disable them during a 60-day study. The council appropriated $35,000 to fund the pilot program. The experiment will also cost the city in lost parking revenue.

Artists sought for ?Change? meters The city of Laguna Beach is looking for artists to paint three new parking meters. In 2008, the city worked with the Chamber of Commerce to develop a public education program to discourage panhandling in the downtown area. Citizens and businesses were encouraged to redirect donations from panhandlers to organizations such as the Laguna Relief and Resource Coalition that support broad based effective homeless solutions. A pilot program was developed that included five artist-painted parking meters.

Suspected drunken driver hits parking meters An allegedly drunken driver drove onto the sidewalk and ran over several parking meters on the ocean side of Pacific Coast Highway and Ocean Avenue Aug. 10, Laguna Beach Police Det. Sgt. Darin Lenyi said. No one was injured. There was major damage to the undercarriage of the car, which came to rest on the side of the road, police said. The driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, Lenyi said.

A driver lost control of his vehicle, crashing into a light pole and taking down parking meters as he rolled over several times in the 900 block of Laguna Canyon Road at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The man was driving westbound when he lost control. Due to the accident, Laguna Canyon Road, -- which leads to the 133, 405 and 73 freeways, was narrowed to one lane for almost two hours. There were no other cars involved in the traffic crash, police said. The driver is at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo.

Parking meters that accept coins or credit cards will drive up the cost of some beach-close parking, starting in September. The City Council unanimously approved on Tuesday the purchase of 209 Flexi Pay meters, to be installed near Heisler Park and to increase the rate to $2 an hour for part of Cliff Drive. The $140,000 purchase will be funded with an $80,000 appropriation from the Parking Fund to supplement the $90,000 in the current budget earmarked for parking meters and operating costs.

Businesses invited to march in parade The Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce is inviting its members to join the organization in marching in the March 7 Patriot’s Day Parade. The parade begins at 11 a.m. at Laguna Beach High School, continues down Park Avenue, right on Glenneyre Street and right onto Forest Avenue, ending on Ocean Avenue at approximately 1 p.m. The chamber is making an all-out effort to promote shopping in Laguna Beach, Executive Director Rose Hancock said at a Tuesday chamber luncheon.

The Clean Water Now! Coalition will host its Summer Quarter beach cleanup from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday. The city-wide cleanup is scheduled to remove debris after the heavily trafficked Fourth of July weekend. The Clean Water Now! Coalition is completing its fifth year as local administrator in this "Adopt-a-Beach" event for the California Coastal Commission. Participants will receive free all-day parking certificates, and bags for nonorganic trash pickup, gloves, tide-pool literature, and other ocean-related brochures will be available.

Suzie Harrison Along Ocean and Forest avenues where the resurfacing project has been recently completed, conversations are buzzing with complaints about parking spaces being smaller and tighter. But according to city officials, the spaces are no smaller and such observations may be caused by an optical illusion. But Len Weinstein, who with his wife has owned a business in Laguna since 1997, said that since the repaving he has been hearing complaints.

Bluebird Canyon residents are at odds again — this time about whether to ax some parking spaces, not trees. The City Council voted at the April 3 meeting for the restoration of six parking spaces on Bluebird Canyon Drive, with thanks from some neighbors and no thanks from others. "This has pitted neighbor against neighbor," said Morningside Drive resident Mary Fegraus. Fegraus said the proposal, which kept parking on narrow, curvy Bluebird to a minimum, forced residents there to find new places to park.

A driver lost control of his vehicle, crashing into a light pole and taking down parking meters as he rolled over several times in the 900 block of Laguna Canyon Road at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. The man was driving westbound when he lost control. Due to the accident, Laguna Canyon Road, -- which leads to the 133, 405 and 73 freeways, was narrowed to one lane for almost two hours. There were no other cars involved in the traffic crash, police said. The driver is at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo.

Area 1 Hawthorne Drive: A woman reported that people were delivering snakes to her front porch in the 300 block at 8:40 p.m. April 20. She refused to speak to police at her door and was believed to be mentally ill. Family was later contacted after repeat 911 calls. Emerald Bay: A possible injured sea lion was reported at the beach at 11:30 a.m. April 21. It was going in and out with the tide. It was turned over to Pacific Marine Mammal Center. Myrtle Street: A person reported that several cars in the area were egged during the night at 10:12 a.m. April 22. Cliff Drive: A biker was reportedly hit by a taxi cab in the 300 block at 7:07 p.m. Monday.

Vehicle overturns after collision A vehicle flipped over in a collision at 7:47 p.m. Oct. 20 in Coast Highway near Third Avenue after the driving hit a vehicle in the process of parallel parking, Sgt.Louise Callus said. The driver of the overturned vehicle, which had collided with the parking vehicle, was initially believed to be trapped in the vehicle but was able to crawl out on his own, Callus said. He sustained minor to moderate injuries and was taken to Mission Hospital Laguna Beach for treatment.

  City parking revenues were significantly higher in fiscal year 2009-2010, which ended June 30, City Manager Ken Frank reported July 30. Receipts from parking meters and parking lots were 7% higher than the same period in the previous year, with total revenues about $3.4 million, he said. During the month of June, parking revenues were 12% higher than June 2009, despite gloomy weather. However, parking ticket revenues are down substantially for the same period, he added.

Artists sought for ?Change? meters The city of Laguna Beach is looking for artists to paint three new parking meters. In 2008, the city worked with the Chamber of Commerce to develop a public education program to discourage panhandling in the downtown area. Citizens and businesses were encouraged to redirect donations from panhandlers to organizations such as the Laguna Relief and Resource Coalition that support broad based effective homeless solutions. A pilot program was developed that included five artist-painted parking meters.

The City Council is looking for a more gracious treatment of drivers who overstay their time limits at meters and city parking lots. Mayor Pro Tem Elizabeth Pearson proposed Tuesday a grace period of five minutes per paid hour on the meters and city parking lot machines, with a goal of reducing the rancor and complaints from drivers who are ticketed. “We are always hearing, ‘I was just two minutes late,’ and ‘I am never coming to Laguna Beach again’,” Pearson said.

Businesses invited to march in parade The Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce is inviting its members to join the organization in marching in the March 7 Patriot’s Day Parade. The parade begins at 11 a.m. at Laguna Beach High School, continues down Park Avenue, right on Glenneyre Street and right onto Forest Avenue, ending on Ocean Avenue at approximately 1 p.m. The chamber is making an all-out effort to promote shopping in Laguna Beach, Executive Director Rose Hancock said at a Tuesday chamber luncheon.

Parking meters that accept coins or credit cards will drive up the cost of some beach-close parking, starting in September. The City Council unanimously approved on Tuesday the purchase of 209 Flexi Pay meters, to be installed near Heisler Park and to increase the rate to $2 an hour for part of Cliff Drive. The $140,000 purchase will be funded with an $80,000 appropriation from the Parking Fund to supplement the $90,000 in the current budget earmarked for parking meters and operating costs.