HUNTINGTON BEACH : Gates May Be Placed on Vandalized Lots

Vandals are wreaking havoc on two new, off-road parking lots on Pacific Coast Highway in the bluffs area of the city, according to city officials.

To combat the vandalism, the City Council, acting in its role as the Huntington Beach Parking Authority, tonight will consider a proposal to put gates on the two parking lots and to close the areas each night from midnight to dawn.

“The city completed the two parking lots along Pacific Coast Highway just north of Golden West in the spring of 1991,” Community Services Director Ron Hagan said in a report to the council. “Meters have been installed in both of these lots. The city has been experiencing an extensive amount of vandalism to the meters and the parking lots.”

The new parking lots are on scenic stretches of Pacific Coast Highway recently beautified by the city into a long, bluff-top park. Hagan’s report said that closing off the area at night would require an appropriation of $7,400.

“An investigation by both Community Services and the Police Department indicates that almost all of the vandalism is taking place late at night,” Hagan said in the report. “The city has also had numerous complaints from residents in the area about late-night activity at these two parking lots.”

Lt. R.L. Parker of the Police Department’s traffic bureau wrote Hagan in early August about police concerns regarding vandalism in the parking lots.

“The Police Department is experiencing an increase in crime on the bluffs and would strongly recommend that the (proposal to close the parking lots at midnight) be implemented,” Parker wrote in a memo to Hagan.