Street’s Residents to Protest Parking Ban

Dozens of cars will be circling Shalimar Street tonight searching for a place to park--but they won’t find one.

Shalimar residents will drive up and down the street to protest new parking restrictions that they say will force them to park far from their homes and walk along streets known for gang trouble and drug dealing.

Maria Alvarez, a member of the Orange County Congregation of Community Organizations, a grass-roots organization working toward improving the conditions on Shalimar, said the restrictions that went into effect last week place people at risk.

“This problem is very serious,” Alvarez said. “People who work at night have to walk home and it can be very dangerous around here at night.”

The city of Costa Mesa has closed off Shalimar and several arterial streets to through traffic as part of its efforts to stem violence in the Westside neighborhood. City officials contend that drug customers and other troublemakers often parked on Shalimar.