Locals have long been wondering when or if the pitted, crater-filled public parking lot on Abbott Street between the main lifeguard tower/public bathrooms and Saratoga Park will get attention from the city’s Park and Recreation Department, which maintains this public area of Ocean Beach. The answer may bring a sigh of relief to neighbors and visitors alike with new hope from the city that funding may be near. It is a free parking lot, unlike most of the lots in the center of OB that are privately owned and metered. The no-cost parking and the convenience of the public bathrooms and showers on one side and the picnic tables with grills on the other make this beachfront parking lot an attractive stop for recreational vehicles and campers from all over the country. The location is also a popular surf spot, frequented heavily by waveriders from neighboring parts of the city who park their cars and trucks conveniently close to the surf area with an option to rinse off their gear in the showers adjacent to the lot. The problem The coveted parking spaces are a magnet for visitors and highly desirable, save for the disintegrating pavement that dots the lot. Damaging potholes, some up to a foot deep and up to five feet in diameter, have been surfacing and growing over the last five years. Patch jobs solve the issue temporarily, but they have not been able to withhold the weight of so many vehicles frequenting the beach parking lot daily. Ocean Beach resident John Spatafino, 46, has been passing through the lot nearly every day for the last 12 years. Spatafino drives a Ford F250 pickup truck loaded up with himself, his Labrador, a 10-foot longboard, a bicycle and his skateboards. “It’s a perfect spot to park,” Spatafino said. “I walk my dog, surf, skateboard or take my bike over to Newport Avenue. It’s perfect except for the irritating craters in this lot. They’re messed up.” Spatafino said he has twisted his ankles in the dark several times over the years. “This lot is costing me money, let me tell you … let alone [damage to] my truck,” Spatafino said. Not only have his truck’s tires been damaged, he said, the craters have also led to a broken left balljoint. “Who pays for that?” he asked. “Should I send a bill to the city? I mean, I pay taxes, why won’t anybody fix this mess? Where does the money go?” Fellow skater John Prather, who has lived in Ocean Beach for four years, said he has never seen the lot look any different than it does now. He said he thinks the holes have become even worse of late. The frustration “It’s an obvious tripping hazard for sure,” Prather said. He said he doesn’t drive often, but he rides his skateboard through the lot. “Well, I actually have to walk my skateboard through the lot,” Prather said. “It’s unrideable. I wish, they [the city] would take better care of this beautiful place, take pride in this, the town, the beaches. Like, in La Jolla, they don’t have potholes that sit there unattended for years, getting bigger by the day.” Prather said he believes the city should make the parking lot more presentable. “Everybody comes here,” he said. “It’s a beautiful scene. Hey, I’m down to help fix it. I’ll volunteer if they [the city] need helpers. We’ll get a crew together. It won’t cost them anything. The place is worth my time for me.” Richard Stevens, 38, lives inland, but also wonders where his tax dollars are going. He said he has been driving his RV camper to Ocean Beach every summer since 1996, staying for four weeks at a time to surf as much as he can. “I’ve noticed it [the parking lot] getting worse each year,” Stevens said. “Don’t the Park and Rec guys report these kind of damages to somebody?” He believes the reason the lot isn’t getting fixed is because of the proliferation of RVs and campers in the parking lot. “It appears to me that campers and travelers aren’t so welcome here,” he said. He thinks sending bills to the city for car alignments and other damages associated the lot might have an impact. “Maybe that will get their [the city’s] attention,” Stevens said. “Or, even worse, if someone gets seriously hurt tripping, like older people or someone in a wheelchair or kids … that might wake them up and do something.” Solution coming? Dan Daneri, district manager for the city Park and Recreation Deparment’s shoreline parks division that oversees the Ocean Beach public parking lot maintenance, provides a promising answer. “The city has been well aware of the recurring damages to the property,” said Daneri. “We have been working on that problem for a long time now. Unfortunately, for the past years, we’ve had a problem acquiring funds to accomplish the task. We’ve been limited to temporary patch jobs, only filling in the holes. “In order to provide a proper and safe function for the use of that parking lot,” he continued, “we’re going to have to resurface and restripe the entire lot.” Daneri expressed concern and sympathy regarding public complaints and frustration. “We’re anticipating applicable funds to finance and start this important project,” Daneri said. “Very, very shortly, I hope, we’ll have the green light. No more patch jobs. The lot will be totally new. Reconstructing the Saratoga Park parking lot is one of the top-two priorities on our list to achieve in Ocean Beach this year.” For more information or to make a comment or suggestion, Daneri said he invites readers to call his main office Mondays through Fridays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. at (619) 235-5914.