Study Says Belmont Shore Parking Problem a Myth : Belmont Shore Told Parking Woes Don’t Really Exist

Belmont Shore residents have been told that what they regard as their greatest problem--not enough parking--is not a problem at all.

A study conducted by the city Planning Bureau concludes that the commercial parking shortage in the seaside neighborhood “is more a perceived problem than an actual problem.”

“On the whole . . . the commercial district does not have a parking shortage,” the study flatly concludes.

The results came as quite a bit of news to residents who saw parking as such a problem that they created their own parking commission, protested growth along commercial 2nd Street in the name of parking and spent hours at neighborhood meetings discussing and arguing the matter.

“If the city wants to label this as a perception problem, then they have a perception problem,” said Bud Huber, president of the Belmont Shore Improvement Assn.

Association members say the study was flawed because it simply counted parking spaces without considering that many of them, such as handicapped spots and reserved business spaces, are restricted.

But not everyone disagreed.

“If you live down here and if you work down here, you become very aware that most of the time you can find parking within a block or two of where you want to go,” said Steve Gibson, president of the Belmont Shore Business Assn. “If you can’t, you find one within six blocks, and it’s a nice walk.”

The study recommends that the neighborhood hire a consultant to devise ways to make better use of the parking that exists, rather than build more lots.

The city Planning Commission will discuss the study tonight and the Belmont Shore parking commission is scheduled to take it up Monday. It was unclear what the study will ultimately accomplish, but it clearly has not put the long debate to rest.

“The city was hellbent to do it. Now they’ve done it,” Huber said. “Time passed. They stirred the pot a little bit more. It’s six months later and whoop-de-do. I’m so frustrated with the parking situation that I don’t want to address it anymore.

“The bottom line is this: If the city were to enforce codes that are on the books today, 99% of the problems would go away.”