Idling Away the Summer
Situated a stone’s throw from the beach, the eclectic enclave of brightly colored restaurants and coffeehouses that line South Seaward Avenue is one of the city’s most popular summertime destinations.
But don’t even think about trying to park there.
Parking spaces in this tiny business district are as desirable as Joannafina’s succulent tamales and Duke’s juicy cheeseburgers across the street, but are a lot harder to come by.
And as summer beach goers descend on the trendy spot, the parking problem has only gotten worse.
“It is just murderous,” said Mike Blue, owner of Duke’s, who often watches his customers circle the block half a dozen times before finding a space. “You poke your head out and it’s like the Indy 500.”
Over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, business owners said the throng of people heading down Seaward Avenue to the beach was both a blessing and a nightmare. Business was humming, but so were the engines of countless cars as they idled in anticipation of an open space on the street or in the 18-space, city-owned lot at the end of Seaward.
“This area down on Seaward has gotten increasingly popular,” Blue said. “It brings people--and with that parking problems and bottleneck traffic.”
There is, however, hope in sight.
An association of Seaward Avenue merchants is trying to negotiate a lease agreement with the owners of a vacant lot at Pierpont Boulevard and Seaward that is now chained off to the public.
The 14-acre lot, which is owned by Unocal, is a proposed site for a hotel and retail development. Merchants and city officials are hopeful that a short-term lease can be brokered temporarily, and they would like to see some permanent parking arrangement created as part of the development.
The issue will be discussed by the Planning Commission on Tuesday.
“Unocal has optioned the property to a developer who has met with city officials,” community services director Everett Millais said. “The developer is going to be there Tuesday night.”
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In addition, city officials are negotiating with a real estate brokerage to use a vacant lot on South Seaward Avenue for parking.
“I have talked to Harbor Realty,” said Bill Byerts, manager of the city’s parks department who is overseeing the project. “I approached them with the idea of leasing and turning it into a parking lot. I have asked our traffic engineers to look at it.”
Despite the efforts of city officials and merchants, Byerts said it is unlikely that the problem will be resolved this summer. And that means continued frustration for customers, beach goers and business owners.
“There is basically no parking down here,” said Lynn Merriam, who works at Full of Beans coffeehouse and has seen the shop lose business.
“They drive around in circles and if they don’t find a spot, they leave,” she said. “I don’t blame them. You can’t roll around forever.”
City officials acknowledge that as the area has grown, both in popularity and in the number of businesses, the parking problem has worsened.
“While it has been there for a long, long time,” Millais said, “it is definitely more difficult now than historically. There are more people trying to access the beach and more awareness that Seaward is a good place to enter the beach.”
Last Friday, Ventura resident Nancy Hakala easily slipped into one of about 18 parking spaces in the city-owned lot at the end of South Seaward Avenue.
“I was exceptionally lucky,” she said, unloading a folding chair and other beach gear from her truck. “Normally, I am not this lucky.”
The city has agreed to one improvement for the area: replacing portable restrooms at the end of the street.
During the City Council’s recent budget deliberations, Seaward Avenue merchants asked for money for new restrooms as well as financial assistance in resolving the parking problem.
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The council agreed to spend $184,000 to improve the restrooms. No money was earmarked for extra parking, however.
“What we did in the interim is we got rid of the ugly looking port-a-potties that were sitting out in the sand,” Byerts said. “We brought in some nicer-looking ones that are now in the parking lot. That seems to be working out for now.”
The temporary restrooms now take up two valuable parking spaces in the city-owned lot. Without them, the cramped city lot would have 20 spaces.
Business owners say they will continue to push for city money to further improve services, such as installing permanent public restrooms and signs directing visitors to the business corridor.
“South Seaward is really a diamond in the rough,” Blue said. “If the city would just give us a little recognition and basic services, we could make this one of the neatest places.”
