It’s a trashy alley that the city has ignored for decades. But that might be changing.
The challenge is in order to improve Forest Lane, the city may lose some parking.
Oh boy.
Three parking spots, in fact. Three holy grail parking spots in one of the most coveted lots in the city – right downtown off Ocean Avenue, next to Hennessey’s.
Here’s the quick background:
Officially, the city’s Public Works Department is spearheading the project, but it started back in 2020 with the Downtown Action Plan. In essence, everyone agreed that improving Forest Lane (the alley) is a good thing. And one way to do it is to consolidate the ramshackle of trash containers that litter the alley under one nice enclosure.
Unfortunately, it will take three parking spots to do it, under the draft plan. Damned if you do, embarrassed if you don’t.
No one really disputes that the alley needs work. It’s an eyesore and completely underutilized.
But to fix it means losing parking, and business owners are growing increasingly livid over the loss of parking.
Heidi Miller, for example, is almost always first in line when it comes to voicing concerns about downtown. As a 43-year business owner in Laguna, she has the credentials to drop the mic at city meetings. She went to a recent hearing about the trash containers, and while she accepts the vision to clean up the alley, the practical impacts hurt her business at Tight Assets.
“When are we going to stop taking away public parking spots for private use only?” she said after the hearing. “Taking away three more parking spots in the Hennessy parking lot on Ocean Avenue for the Forest Avenue restaurants’ trash cans is mind-boggling. More public parking spots taken away for private use. So disappointing.”
The city’s answer for the lost parking is murky at best – and sometimes laughable.
“As a part of the City’s continued efforts to increase parking in the downtown, the City recently created a new golf cart space on Forest Avenue,” according to the report.
Congratulations to golf cart drivers.
The report also points out that there are 35 spaces available across the street in the Union Bank lot, but they cost $20 on a good day.
Miller wants more than just replacement parking. She wants the city to revisit the effectiveness of the “parklets” on Ocean that were awarded to the restaurants. She claims several of them are going unused.
“In a town where parking is such a huge problem, let’s remove the non-promenade parklets now that they are no longer needed for the purpose intended, and give back the parking to all,” she said. “The parklets’ purpose were to provide outside dining during the pandemic. Many of the parklets on lower Ocean Ave have not been used in the year since they were installed. So let’s at least remove those before the summer season.”
The trash can issue is still working its way through the city. At the March 4 Planning Commission meeting, the commissioners admitted that there wasn’t a perfect answer. They decided to think about it until June 1.
In the meantime, they want a better design for the enclosure and put Jorg Dubin and Susan Whitin on it. They also want to hear alternative locations that will have less impact on parking.
So keep circling those parking lots and stay tuned.
