Parking Limits OKd Near Park

Citing crowded conditions at Bubbling Springs Park, the Port Hueneme City Council has approved a zone that will restrict parking on adjacent streets to residents during summer weekends.

Beginning April 1 for six months, only residents and guests with parking passes will be allowed to park on Park Avenue from Bard Road to 6th Street or on the south side of Bard from J Street to 7th Avenue on weekends.

The city will also construct an additional 33 parking spaces to supplement the existing 39.

The city developed the parking plan after park neighbors complained that increasing use had led to traffic congestion, excessive noise, littering, vandalism, unlicensed vendors and inappropriate behavior.

“Many of the problems that are associated with the park are due to the extremely large numbers of commuters who frequent the park on weekends,” said Brady Cherry, the city’s recreation director.

The park was designed with the limited facilities of a community park, but has increasingly been used on a regional basis, he said.

Several residents at Wednesday’s council meeting criticized the plan, saying it would make both residents outside the parking zone and visitors feel unwelcome.

The plan will be evaluated in three months.