{"id":318780,"date":"2023-01-18T09:01:10","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T17:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/?p=318780"},"modified":"2023-01-18T20:26:02","modified_gmt":"2023-01-19T04:26:02","slug":"pacific-beach-and-la-jolla-outdoor-dining-spaces-may-be-removed-for-parking-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/pacific-beach-and-la-jolla-outdoor-dining-spaces-may-be-removed-for-parking-places\/","title":{"rendered":"Pacific Beach and La Jolla outdoor dining spaces may be removed for parking places"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new California Coastal Commission amendment to the City\u2019s Spaces as Places program requiring beach businesses to replace displaced vehicular parking was greeted with mixed reviews by merchants and residents.<\/p>\n

In January 2022, the City instituted Spaces as Places, a new program to help COVID-challenged businesses by allowing them to put temporary outdoor dining spaces in the public right-of-way. The Coastal Commission recently attached a condition that parking displaced by Spaces as Places must be replaced, contending the public\u2019s shoreline access was impeded by parking removal.<\/p>\n

Some are distressed by the Coastal Commission\u2019s amendment and its potential impact on shopkeepers.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrior to the COVID pandemic we had absolutely zero outdoor space available to us,\u201d said Eric Christiansen, 20-year co-owner of Guava Beach Bar & Grill in Mission Beach. \u201cOne of the silver linings in the pandemic was the creation of the various outdoor seating areas, including sidewalk cafes and \u2018streetaries.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI do \u2018not\u2019 feel that it is fair that the City of San Diego voted to allow businesses to keep their outside streetaries, yet the Coastal Commission has the power to alter that decision just for those of us who happen to be located near the ocean. No one has come forward with any information on how we are supposed to \u2018make up\u2019 the equivalent parking spots utilized by our streetary.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is interesting that we need more trees, fewer cars, walking more and other things to enhance climate change, and yet the Coastal Commission is requiring the City to reinstate parking places for cars,\u201d said Janie Emerson, president of La Jolla Shores Association.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially in the Shores, the outside dining has enhanced the walkability of the area and been overwhelmingly successful. Outside dining and parking for cars seem to be in total opposition to each other. Time for everyone to think outside the box and explore things that move us forward not backward. This decision by the Coastal Commission moves us all backward,\u201d Emerson said.<\/p>\n

Others, however, concur with the Coastal Commission, arguing so-called streetaries were a temporary response to a health crisis largely over.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Diners use the outdoor seating at Jose’s CourtRoom on Prospect Street. PHOTO BY THOMAS MELVILLE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cIt was a great gift for the\u00a0restraints by the City of loaning them our parking spaces and sidewalks during a very hard time for all, and helping them survive,\u201d said La Jolla and community parks planner Melinda Merryweather. \u201cBut that time has\u00a0passed and\u00a0they should be\u00a0incredibly\u00a0grateful to the City and for all who missed the parking spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Laurie Carlock of Pacific Beach concurred with Merryweather. \u201cIt seems straightforward to me: They (streetaries) were allowed for a reason and it is time to return the streets for parking, which there is little of on PB streets,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of these temporary porches are not taken care of, block traffic coming from alleys and side streets and have an advantage over other businesses that have to stay in their property line. It just seems fair to return the traffic parking spots. There are many places that have porches we can go to,\u201d Carlock said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile Spaces as Places is expected to improve pedestrian-oriented amenities and promote alternate modes of transit, there are potential adverse impacts to public access associated with the program,\u201d wrote the Coastal Commission in its executive summary. \u201cPrivate cars and street parking are still the primary means by which the general public accesses the shoreline. Allowing the expansion of private structures and uses into areas currently reserved for public parking, could adversely impact the ability of the general public to access and enjoy the shoreline.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Coastal Commission pointed out \u201cit can take over 1 \u00bd hours to reach the coast from eastern San Diego, which is also where many of the lower-income communities of the City are located. The occupation of public parking along the coast will likely have a deterrent effect on visitors living much farther away in light of transit time. Measures that limit coastal access for people who are not within walking distance disproportionately impact lower-income communities, which raises environmental justice concerns. Therefore, projects to remove parking in the Beach Impact Area \u2018only\u2019 must replace that parking elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City will continue to work toward solutions to allow more outdoor dining and other active uses that contribute to more coastal access while improving mobility and access for all modes of transportation in the City\u2019s coastal areas, including the Beach Impact Area,\u201d responded Tara Lewis, City spokesperson.<\/p>\n

Supervising City spokesperson Scott Robinson talked about how the Coastal Commission\u2019s coastal amendment will be enforced. \u201cThe Development Services Department Code Enforcement Division will primarily conduct enforcement of Spaces as Places,\u201d he said. \u201cFor previously permitted businesses operating with a Temporary Outdoor Business Operations permit that have submitted a Spaces as Places application, the City will continue to allow these to operate in the Coastal Zone while the application is under review.\u201d<\/p>\n

Added Robinson: \u201cWhere possible, the City will work with impacted businesses in the Coastal Zone to allow for replacement parking. The San Diego City Council must still affirm the Coastal Commission’s decision before the Coastal Commission can provide final certification of the Spaces as Places regulations. After final certification, the City will be able to grant permits in the Coastal Zone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christiansen of Guava Beach argued the Coastal Commission\u2019s ruling on replacement beach parking \u201cwas made with little to no guidance for affected businesses.\u00a0Parking in commercial districts citywide has always been an issue that is not unique to just beach areas.\u00a0As for the \u2018hardship\u2019 that this presents, it is unclear as I have yet to receive any guidance, or even a notification, from either the City or the Coastal Commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome have suggested that affected businesses rent spots to make up the difference.\u00a0However, that produces net \u2018zero\u2019 additional spaces. The Coastal Commission’s ruling is both unfair and biased. Those of us located within one-half mile of the coast are the only ones affected by this ruling,\u201d Christiansen said.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new California Coastal Commission amendment to the City\u2019s Spaces as Places program requiring beach businesses to replace displaced vehicular parking was greeted with mixed reviews by merchants and residents. In January 2022, the City instituted Spaces as Places, a new program to help COVID-challenged businesses by allowing them to put temporary outdoor dining spaces […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":840,"featured_media":318781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11550","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"A new California Coastal Commission amendment to the City\u2019s Spaces as Places program requiring beach businesses to replace displaced vehicular parking was greeted with mixed reviews by merchants and residents.","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"source_name":"","source_url":"","via_name":"","via_url":"","override_template":"0","override":[{"template":"3","single_blog_custom":"","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_view_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","show_zoom_button":"1","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"override_image_size":"0","image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post":"0","trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post":"0","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","sponsored_post_name":"","sponsored_post_url":"","sponsored_post_logo_enable":"0","sponsored_post_logo":"","sponsored_post_desc":"","disable_ad":"0"},"jnews_primary_category":{"id":"","hide":""},"jnews_social_meta":{"fb_title":"","fb_description":"","fb_image":"","twitter_title":"","twitter_description":"","twitter_image":""},"jnews_override_counter":{"override_view_counter":"0","view_counter_number":"0","override_share_counter":"0","share_counter_number":"0","override_like_counter":"0","like_counter_number":"0","override_dislike_counter":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[11550],"tags":[12846,12560,12537,13067,12544,14964,12543,13138,14965],"class_list":["post-318780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-stories","tag-california-coastal-commission","tag-city-of-san-diego","tag-la-jolla","tag-la-jolla-shores","tag-mission-beach","tag-outdoor-dining","tag-pacific-beach","tag-parking","tag-spaces-as-places"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/840"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318780"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318780\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}