SEAL BEACH : Consultant to Study Main Street Issues

Efforts to draft a new planning blueprint for Main Street got a boost this week when the City Council hired a consultant to examine the business district.

Zucker Systems will be paid $73,750 to complete a study of parking, zoning, traffic and land-use issues on Main Street and report its finding to the City Council within seven to nine months.

The information will be used to draft a new “Main Street Specific Plan,” which the City Council is scheduled to adopt late in 1994.

Officials hope the specific plan will help guide future Main Street development into the next century.

The consultant plans to hold several town hall meetings to gain the public’s views on Main Street’s future. Questionnaires will be sent to residents and merchants.

“We want to get feedback on what people think is good about Main Street and what they think is bad about it,” said Lee Whittenberg, the planning director. Zucker Systems “hopes to develop a plan that retains the good things while weeding out the bad things,” Whittenberg said.

Main Street had been the subject of much controversy in recent years. Residents who live along the tree-lined row of restaurants and shops have complained that some businesses on the street attract traffic, noise and rowdy patrons.

Some merchants, on the other hand, have complained that the city refuses to let them expand.

Officials said the “specific plan” will address many of these issues, giving future city councils a basis for deciding disputes when they arise.