Seal Beach : Officials to Review Report on Main Street

After years of patchwork attempts to solve parking and planning problems on Main Street, the City Council and Planning Commission will meet Feb. 8 to review the first report from a consultant hired more than a year ago to provide a framework for a comprehensive downtown plan.

City officials say the report will be available to the public before the meeting, scheduled for 7:45 p.m. in council chambers. The report will be on file at city libraries and available for purchase from City Hall.

Concerns over the hodgepodge planning of Main Street businesses surfaced in the 1970s, when local entrepreneurs were struggling to compete with new suburban shopping malls.

But as more restaurants and bars moved into downtown, nearby residents have complained about an increase in noise and a decrease in parking. The current Main Street plan is about 20 years old and does not adequately address issues such as parking and alcohol sales, according to city officials.

Zucker Systems was hired in December, 1993, to study parking, zoning, traffic and land-use issues on Main Street. The report will be used to develop a new “Main Street Specific Plan” for the city.

“It’s been an off-and-on process,” Seal Beach Mayor George Brown said. “This will be the first real chance we’ve had to get some factual information we can sink our teeth into and chew around.”

Brown said he has not seen a copy of the report, but he suggested city officials may consider installing parking meters to help relieve parking congestion in downtown areas.