NEWPORT BEACH : Turf Will Replace City Parking Spots
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By midsummer, 16,000 square feet of new turf will have replaced the 46 parking spaces that used to border City Hall.
Despite the protests of area merchants, the council has voted to use $7,000 received as part of the state project to widen Newport Boulevard to install an irrigation system and more turf.
More parking spaces have been added alongside streets bordering City Hall to replace the parking spaces lost to the widening project, city officials said. But Janice Teson, whose daughter owns a consignment shop across from City Hall, said customers call everyday and say they can’t come to the shop because they can’t find a parking space.
Eveyln S. Johnson, who owns a barber shop across from City Hall, said her business is down 50% because customers can’t find a parking space.
Both women asked that parking be given priority, but the council instead asked for staff reports on limiting the amount of time patrons could park at meters along the street during the construction period.
In voting for turf, the council rejected the idea of planting drought-resistant flowers or leaving the lot as dirt until the drought is over.
The garden was deemed too expensive and a dirt lot too messy.
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