Official Warns of Parking Shortage in Old Pasadena

Pasadena Vice Mayor Chris Holden is warning his colleagues that the sweet smell of success in Old Pasadena could turn sour unless the city considers regulations to ensure that there is adequate parking for the growing number of eateries around the popular Colorado Boulevard strip.

Holden, who represents the district on the north side of the strip, said that while he does not want to go as far as some restaurant owners who are requesting a moratorium on new establishments in the busy area, he sees the need to ensure that additional eateries have spaces for customers to park their cars.

“I have been approached by a number of restaurateurs who feel the city needs to regulate them more effectively,” said Holden, a former owner of a sandwich shop in the district.

Holden said that as the area’s restaurants have multiplied, the space for customer vehicles has remained the same.

“I believe in the free market. But the real question raised here is how many places are taking the credit for the same parking spaces in a structure,” he said.

There are three major parking structures in Old Pasadena and the city also has started to lease 1,000 spaces in the Parsons Co. structure at peak times to cope with demand, city officials said.

Holden recently convinced his colleagues to refer the problem to a council subcommittee on business enterprise before the issue comes to the full council in a few months.

“It’s one of those issues we cannot put our heads in the sand over,” he said. “It seems a new restaurant opens every week.”

Nonetheless, Councilman William Crowfoot, subcommittee chairman, said he doesn’t want to manage the restaurant market.

“I don’t want to exclude something better,” he said. “To my mind there are some restaurants in Old Pasadena that ought to die.”

However, Crowfoot said the debate will allow other questions to be discussed, such as whether the city wants to make it a priority to attract specialty stores over chain stores.

Nadine Rondinella, executive director of the Old Pasadena Business and Professional Assn., said she is surprised that some restaurant owners are again demanding a moratorium and miffed that they did not first approach the association that represents businesses before going to City Hall.

She said that a few years ago, such a moratorium was rejected and the city instead imposed an alcohol permit district that limits the number of establishments by requiring each new seller of beer, wine and spirits be at a distance from an existing seller.

Rondinella said there is adequate parking in Old Pasadena but that its use is the problem. “What the real challenge is, is parking management,” she said.