Merchants Protest Parking Curbs Aimed at Hells Angels

With up to 1,000 Hells Angels set to thunder into town early next week, city leaders Wednesday put dozens of parking spaces off-limits to motorcycles, prompting immediate protests from merchants hoping to profit from the club’s convergence on Ventura’s downtown.

Authorities say the move is aimed at keeping roadways safe as Hells Angels from around the world roar into Ventura as part of the club’s 50th anniversary celebration.

But many downtown merchants viewed the new no-parking rule as a cheap shot against the motorcycle club and a blow to efforts to boost the city’s flagging tourist trade.

“This is so, so Ventura,” fumed Caffe Bella owner Beth Keenen, who joined a handful of downtown merchants in filing a formal complaint at City Hall against the no-parking rule.

“We are welcoming the Hells Angels to town--we need the business,” Keenen said. “We need some adventure and excitement. Downtown has been dead for so long, this could be exactly what it needs.”

Already, downtown streets are rumbling with the roar of souped-up choppers.

In fact, dozens of Hells Angels from as far away as Denmark and Norway have descended on the city as part of the club’s World Run, which starts Saturday in San Bernardino.

San Bernardino is where the Hells Angels established its first chapter 50 years ago. But officials there don’t appear to be making much fuss over the club’s weekend arrival.

“I don’t even think we knew about it,” said Melanie Hastings, secretary to Mayor Judith Valles. “I don’t think it’s like it was back in the ‘60s. It’s not like they’re dragging away women and children.”

After they are finished partying in San Bernardino, riders will make their way to Ventura, where the local Hells Angels chapter will hold a private St. Patrick’s Day party at Nicholby’s nightclub.

Ventura police officials have said they will beef up patrols during the Angels’ three-day stay. And city crews started tacking up red-and-white signs along Main and California streets Wednesday morning, each warning that police would haul away any Harley illegally planted in one of the newly restricted angled slots.

Authorities insist that the new parking rules aren’t meant to harass the bikers or drive them out of town.

Rather, police say they decided to put the downtown parking spaces off-limits to avoid traffic snarls. Because bikers back into those stalls, they must go against traffic when they leave, creating a potential hazard.

Officials said they needed no special authority to install the signs, leaning instead on a broad public safety ordinance empowering Police Chief Richard Thomas to cure traffic hazards.

To offset any inconvenience to the Hells Angels, however, authorities have designated two parking lots in the downtown area for use exclusively by the motorcycle club.

Police said they ran the parking scheme by local Hells Angels leaders and won their blessing.

“There is no taking without giving,” said Ventura Police Cpl. John Turner, adding that it remains to be seen whether the signs become a permanent downtown fixture.

“It isn’t every day we get this many motorcyclists popping into town,” Turner said. “We are dealing with the numbers, not the individuals.”

But in a city that is looking to court the tourist dollar, downtown merchants say police aren’t exactly rolling out the welcome mat.

“They’re just overreacting to the whole situation and I just think they’re going to create problems,” said Natalie Siman, of Natalie’s Fine Threads.

“Merchants are looking forward to them coming downtown,” she said. “They like to show off their bikes and that will draw people downtown. They act like the Ku Klux Klan is coming to our city.”

Siman was among the merchants who complained Wednesday to the city. And she followed up by letting George Christie Jr., president of the Ventura Hells Angels chapter, know that the business community is behind him.

Christie said he believes that local police are trying to make a point by restricting motorcycle parking in the downtown area. He said it’s true that police told him about the parking restrictions. But he said it’s not like they gave him any choice in the matter.

“This must be Chief Thomas’ idea of a constitutional welcome,” said Christie, referring to an earlier statement by the chief that officers would be out in force but would not go out of their way to interfere with the club’s right to assemble.

“I think there are people in town who feel they want to send a message to us,” said Christie, standing outside his downtown tattoo parlor. “But it’s not going to stop us from coming down here. I think the police should treat it like any other event held in town.”

But clearly, this is not some regular event.

“We recruit a lot of conventions to the city, but I promise we did not recruit this one,” said Bill Clawson, executive director of the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau.

“The Hells Angels are not the normal kind of tourists we seek to attract,” he said. “That said, I don’t want to give off a hostile vibe that extends to a group of travelers who choose a certain means of transportation.”

Over at Nicholby’s, owner Nick Taylor said he worries about the same thing. He said the motorcycle club should be treated like any other group coming into town, ready and raring to leave their money behind.

“If we treat them properly, they are going to be a benefit to downtown,” he said. “But there is nothing positive about putting these signs up. They’re going to come anyway; why change the rules just for them?”

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Correspondent Troy Heie contributed to this story.