My Belmont Heights

We were on the original committee and worked with Phil Hester in the Parks Department to build the park. One of our goals was to secure the greenbelt as a park. There must be many hurdles to changing the use of this area: Zoning, Planning, and I think Coastal Commission. We need to voice our opinions against a handful of business/property owners so this project doesn,t squeek by. We will be at the meeting. Pass the word. See you at the meeting.

I contacted Gary DeLong's office regarding this... and received some background information regarding what is happening. Please post questions/comments.

Regards,

Mike Stewart

Taken from an email from Councilman DeLong's Office:

Thank you for your interest in Livingston Park. Late last year several residents contacted the Council Office and let me know that they were frustrated because a city parking lot existed in their neighborhood (across from the Bayshore Church) yet they were unable to use it.

Upon further research, I learned that the City has allowed the Bayshore Church exclusive use of the parking lot, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 50 years at no charge. After reviewing a report that City staff developed several years ago, it seemed apparent that a change to provide more resident access would be appropriate.

However, rather than impose a city hall solution, I felt that the best approach would be to develop a community driven solution. Accordingly, I put together a small committee including representatives from the Belmont Shore Residents Association, Belmont Shore Business Association, Belmont Shore Parking Commission and Bayshore Church. The purpose of this committee is not to decide the ultimate outcome, but to identify various alternatives that could be presented to the neighborhood for discussion.

The next step is to hold a community meeting for public input, which is scheduled for Monday, May 7, 2007 @ 6:30 PM @ Lowell Elementary School, to discuss these proposals. The goal is to determine if we can improve our current open space use, as well as optimize parking.

Several rumors stating that Livingston Park is scheduled to be removed have been circulating. Please know that reducing any open park space along Livingston Drive is not an option. Due to the fact that the Bayshore Community Church has been the sole operators of a City owned parking lot for over 50 years, it is my intention to seek community input regarding residential use of the City owned parking lot as well as ways to improve, not reduce, our open park land.

I hope you can join us for the meeting. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact my office. Attached below is the press release for the upcoming meeting.

Gary DeLong
Councilmember, 3rd District
City of Long Beach
562/961-4105
562/961-4106 (Fax)
www.LongBeach.Gov/District3

Here is the article from the front page of today's Long Beach Press-Telegram (May 7th):

Link: http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_5834889

Article:
The Canalis Report
Belmont Shore shuffle
Article Launched: 05/06/2007 10:12:42 PM PDT

Lydia Sheradon, 4, of Belmont Shore, plays at the Livingston Drive Playground off Second Street. A proposal would relocate the playground and turn the area into a parking lot. Residents are concerned, but council members say the move may be necessary.
(Carlos Delgado / Press-Telegram)

My wife and I recently took our tot to the tot lot in Belmont Shore.

A woman handed us a "Livingston Park Alert!" flier and told us the city wanted to tear down the playground.

They want to make it a parking lot, she said.

I called around. There's a lot more to the lot rumor.

Relocating the playground is one piece of five formal proposals to add both parking and parkland along the Livingston Drive greenbelt between Second Street and The Toledo.

Third District Councilman Gary DeLong plans to explain the concepts at 6:30 tonight in the Lowell Bayside Academy auditorium at 5201 E. Broadway.

"I want a community-driven solution," DeLong said. "Oftentimes, the city just does things."

The most-discussed part of the various proposals came from Kurt Schneiter of the Belmont Shore Parking and Business Improvement Area Advisory Commission.

Schneiter suggested moving the playground from the west side of Park Avenue to the east side, where there is more space.

Schneiter called the playground inadequate for the number of families in Belmont Heights and Belmont Shore who use it. He wants to add new equipment, possibly with private donations.

His concepts, which he
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said are being worked on with city parks and traffic officials, would leave plenty of room for the Shore's holiday dog contests and parades at Livingston Park.

The chief plan would add about 34 new parking spaces to where the playground and alley are now - and in the city-owned section of the parking lot behind SuperMex. (The rest of that lot is privately owned.)

"You're uniting all the parking in one area," Schneiter said.

The new lot would be landscaped so that drivers, and neighbors, see a contiguous greenbelt instead of meters.

"We want a view corridor," said Schneiter, who owns commercial property on Second Street and lives and works in the Heights. "We want as much greenery as you can see."

Schneiter estimated meters at that location could raise $50,000 a year to help pay for park improvements and other Shore projects.

Schneiter wants to add park space by filling in the triangle area north of Livingston at Argonne Avenue with grass and adding more green space where The Toledo intersects with Livingston.

He said those moves would slow down drivers who zip around those corners.

"No matter what, for these reasons, changes should be made for safety," Schneiter said.

Schneiter also envisions about nine new parking spaces: three in the Argonne triangle; two at Nieto Avenue and Broadway by Lowell Elementary; and three on the Livingston Drive side of St. Bartholomew Catholic Church.

Then there's the other matter everyone is talking about: The Bay Shore Congregational Church parking lot.

The church, which is located at 5101 The Toledo, has leased the 36-space, city-owned lot, month-to-month, for 50 years.

DeLong said whether to open the church parking lot to public use is at the heart of the Livingston Park debate.

After receiving complaints about the church's sweetheart deal, the councilman assembled a committee from the Belmont Shore Residents Association, Belmont Shore Business Association, Belmont Shore Parking Commission and the church to research the issue and develop alternatives.

Schneiter, who is on the committee, said an early proposal to swap the playground with the church parking lot is off the table.

DeLong said there is likely a way to satisfy the needs of residents and congregants, possibly by repaving the lot and letting the church share it with the public.

Attorney Doug Otto, a church member, said the church allows the public to use the lot and never tows cars, despite the warning signs installed by the city.

Otto plans to present his own proposal to turn the church parking lot into a "flex park" made of a composite that can be used for cars and by playing kids.

"I am trying to do the best of both worlds and keep it for the church," Otto said.

The church wants assurances elderly and disabled congregants can always park nearby. They also want to be able to use it weekend mornings for services.

The lot is used on weeknights by community groups that use the church's meeting spaces and gymnasium.

Though opening up the church lot would help, Schneiter said the need for parking is closer to Second Street.

"We have 500 spaces that are hardly ever used down at Ocean, two blocks away (from Second), and we are too lazy to use it," he said.

He's right about that.

John Canalis can be reached at john.canalis@presstelegram.com or at (562) 499-1273.