CITY HALL ROUNDUP : Strict parking law will keep RVs off the streets and under wraps.

RECREATION & PARK DEPARTMENT: There are a lot of unhappy campers in Palos Verdes Estates these days, what with the city’s crackdown on that familiar suburban nemesis: recreational vehicles.

The City Council last week moved closer to passing a new law restricting the parking of motor homes and boats on public streets and private property. The new ordinance goes so far as to require RV owners to screen the vehicles on four sides with portable planters or some other form of camouflage--no small feat when you’re trying to hide a 36-foot Winnebago.

Recreational vehicle owners must also seek temporary parking permits and keep a 20-foot distance between a stored vehicle and the curb, forcing homeowners with small lots to put their RVs in commercial storage.

“There are no choices on where to park,” resident Clifford Peer said at the meeting. “One (storage) lot in Torrance is closing. That’s going to make 400 more RVs looking for a place to park.”

Angry RV owners haven’t much time to find sanctuaries for their Gulf Streams. The proposed ordinance is expected to move into the passing lane at the council’s first meeting in January.

NOT SO EASY: Newspaper reporters usually try to melt into the background at city council meetings. But last week, it was the scribes scrambling to the forefront in Redondo Beach.

As the community looked on, representatives of three South Bay newspapers that cover the beach cities battled it out for the right to print legal notices for the city of Redondo Beach. The advertising account, which totals about $60,000, became available last month when the weekly Hometown News ceased publication.

Winning the right to become the city’s official newspaper was the weekly Easy Reader, which made an end-run around the rival Daily Breeze and Beach Reporter. It won the account the old-fashioned way--by buying the Hometown News.

The purchase will make for a not-so-Easy Reader. From now on, the weekly will be known as the Easy Reader-Redondo Beach Hometown News. Readers of the Palos Verdes Peninsula News and Rolling Hills Herald can breathe easier knowing their paper was not the target of the takeover.

HOT SEAT: Toilets and office chairs aren’t usually the focus of heated public policy debate, but Hermosa Beach officials refuse to take exorbitant bills for such items sitting down.

Councilman Robert Essertier raised questions last Tuesday about two recent school board purchases that he says show the district isn’t being fiscally prudent. The discussion centered on how the council and the Hermosa Beach City School District could weather tough economic times.

One way, Essertier said, is to avoid paying luxury prices for essentials. On Oct. 9, the school board decided without public discussion to spend $11,000 on a bathroom for the district office. At the next board meeting on Nov. 13, the board approved a $1,300 office chair for Supt. Elaine Gourley.

“The priorities of the school board don’t seem appropriate,” Essertier said.

However, his concerns did not extend to a city plan to pay $11,500 for the upkeep of a popular playing field.

But, as fellow Councilman Sam Edgerton pointed out, everyone in the city shouldn’t suffer just because the school board picked out “a super-duper chair.”

MAGIC NUMBER: The city that likes to think of itself as the sports capital of the world is hoping to add a little bit of Magic to its Rose Parade float. The Inglewood City Council recently sent a letter to the Lakers owners asking permission to incorporate Magic Johnson’s number into its float decor.

Inglewood is home to the Lakers, the Los Angeles Kings hockey team and the Hollywood Park Race Track. The three Inglewood youngsters riding the city’s float will wear Lakers, Kings and jockey uniforms. So as not to confuse viewers, the city plans to put Magic’s number 32 on the basketball uniform.

As if the symbolic gesture weren’t enough, the city is also forging ahead on the environmental front. The council on Wednesday announced that the city’s New Year’s Day parade float will have the distinction of being the only natural gas-powered vehicle in the Jan. 1 festival.

Inglewood Mayor Edward Vincent said the city wanted to do something special “because the float is like a homecoming.”

LAST WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Lawndale: Two years after Lawndale voters rejected the city’s 1976 General Plan, the Planning Commission on Monday approved an updated version of the development blueprint. The City Council will consider the plan at its Dec. 17 meeting, three days before a state-granted extension expires. The plan is expected to come before voters for final approval in April.

Hawthorne: The City Council on Monday unanimously approved a resolution that declares the Glasgow Strip a public necessity, legally clearing the way for the city to acquire the 4.6-acre property by eminent domain proceedings. A Downey developer bought the site from Caltrans this summer, but city officials want to turn it into a park.

Rancho Palos Verdes: The City Council on Tuesday decided to limit to five weekends per year the number of art shows that can be conducted at Malaga Cove Plaza. The council also will require the artists to supply their own trash bins and lavatories.

MEETINGS THIS WEEK

Avalon: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 209 Metropole Ave.; (310) 510-0220. Televised live on Channel 3 (Catalina Cable) and repeated Saturday morning.

Carson: 6 p.m. Tuesday, 701 E. Carson St.; (310) 830-7600. Televised at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday on Channel 26 (Continental Cablevision) and repeated the following Wednesday.

El Segundo: 7 p.m. Tuesday, 350 Main St.; (310) 322-4670. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon) and repeated at noon Wednesday.

Inglewood: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1 Manchester Blvd.; (310) 412-5280. No cable telecast.

Lawndale: 7 p.m. Thursday, 14717 Burin Ave.; (310) 973-4321. Televised live on Channel 60 and repeated several times during the week.

Lomita: 7 p.m. Monday, 24300 Narbonne Ave.; (310) 325-7170. No cable telecasts.

Los Angeles: 10 a.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 200 N. Spring St., Los Angeles. In San Pedro, (310) 548-7637; in Wilmington, (310) 548-7586; in Harbor City/Harbor Gateway, (310) 548-7664; in Westchester, (310) 641-4717. Televised live on Channel 35; meetings repeated individually at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and collectively on Sunday starting at 10 a.m.

Manhattan Beach: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, 1400 Highland Ave.; (310) 545-5621. Televised on Channel 3 (MultiVision) at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Rancho Palos Verdes: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Hesse Park, 29201 Hawthorne Blvd.; (310) 377-0360. Televised live on Channel 3 (MultiVision); repeated at 7:30 p.m. the following Tuesday.

Redondo Beach: 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, 415 Diamond St.; (310) 372-1171. Televised live on Channel 8 (Century); repeated at 3 p.m. Wednesday and 6 p.m. Sunday.

Torrance: 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, 3031 Torrance Blvd.; (310) 618-5880. Televised live on Channel 22 (Paragon), and replayed at 10 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, and at 10 a.m., 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.