Board members and residents of La Jolla gathered Wednesday to discuss what some residents call an issue that has been going on since the 1960s but has recently heated up: lack of parking in the village.
Michael Hearth, owner of Sunset Parking, was a La Jolla Community Parking District Advisory Board member who recused himself from the Sept. 19 parking meeting for having a conflict of interest. According to Hearth, if a city has only a 10- to 15-percent vacancy rate with parking, such as La Jolla does, there is still a problem.
The other eight board members said that, although a variety of conditions exist, La Jolla employees are abusing the parking system. Ray Weiss said employees in the commercial district have been known to park in spaces marked for two hours. A parking enforcement officer will come by with chalk to mark tires. If a car has a previous mark, it is ticketed. Weiss and other board members said the employees come out and wipe off the chalk to avoid tickets.
This is causing a major parking problem by tying up parking spaces all day, members of the board said.
“I have never erased a chalk mark,” said Joe Porteous, an employee who works at Warwick’s in the Village. “I am not a bad person in that way.”
Some restaurant owners, including George Hauer who owns George’s California Modern restaurant, are in favor of the parking program. Hauer said he already reimburses his employees for parking.
Many residents spoke against the plan.
“I was a real estate lawyer,” merchant Tom Cerruti said. “You never permit paid parking. It goes without saying. Never charge for parking if you want to benefit business.”
Resident Darcy Ashley presented a petition to the board signed by residents, business owners and employees who are opposed to the parking proposal. Nearly 1,700 people signed the petition at Warwick’s that will be presented to the city council, Ashley said.
The board voted to continue the discussion of the proposal for the next 45 days, with one member opposing the measure.
To log on to the parking board’s website, visit www.lajollabythesea.com.