NEWPORT BEACH : Parking Changes for Balboa Peninsula Approved

The City Council has approved three proposals to ease traffic and restructure parking on the Balboa Peninsula to make it more appealing to pedestrians.

Main Street will lose six metered parking spaces; the city also plans to give the avenue a face lift. New landscape will go before the council in a few months, Planning Director James Hewicker said. The three-minute parking zone in front of the post office and the commercial loading zone by the Balboa Pavilion will remain.

The Balboa Merchants and Owners Assn. supported the changes and long-range revitalization plans that include adding more tables and benches and other improvements for pedestrians. The meters generate about $4,000, according to a city planning study.

Another part of the plan passed last week will stripe the city parking lot at the Balboa Pier to add 40 spaces and offset the lost parking on Main Street.

The council approved spending $22,400 to replace a cash register, ticket dispenser and control gate at that Palm Street lot, which generates $1 million a year for the city.

In a related action, the council voted to prohibit left turns onto 21st Street from eastbound Balboa Boulevard, where cars stopping to turn left block through traffic.

U-turns at 20th Street will also be prohibited until a left-turn lane is installed, at an estimated cost of $20,000 to $25,000, before the summer tourist season.