Councilwoman Price is proposing a reevaluation of the Long Beach permanent parklet ordinance language at this Tuesday’s (Dec 6th) City Council meeting. The ordinance (in place since 2018) currently requires businesses applying for a permanent parklet to obtain approval from community groups (like the 95 year old BSRA/Belmont Shore Residents Association) to pursue their application.
If Councilwoman Price’s parklet agenda item passes, the BSRA and all of the other 80+ Long Beach neighborhood residential organizations will be disenfranchised by a last-minute measure introduced at the final working council meeting of the year.
At the June 14, 2022 council meeting, an extended conversation by council members focused on fairness to the businesses. The discussion, led by Mayor Garcia and Councilwoman Price, centered on and repeatedly emphasized that a right granted to the businesses could not be taken away. Now, however, Councilwoman Price has done a complete 180 and is proposing that council take away a right that residents had been explicitly granted and been told repeatedly over the past year would be an integral part of the application process.
In 2018, the Long Beach City Council, after much review and evaluation, signed off on the creation of this ordinance (Long Beach Municipal Code 14.15.030). The parklet ordinance was vetted by city staff, the city manager, and the city attorney. But four years later, when it is expedient for the outgoing councilwoman and the Long Beach Restaurant Association to change the rules at the last possible opportunity, this recommendation is brought forward. The councilwoman is presumptuously asserting, four years on, that her fellow councilmembers would agree that the community-organization input mechanism spelled out in both the Municipal Code and parklets handbook was, in fact, not their intent.
The undeniable reality is that just as residents directly impacted by the parklets finally have an opportunity to weigh in via a defined and non-ignorable component of the application process, Councilwoman Price is trying to silence their voice.
If you have not yet signed the Parking, Not Parklets petition, please CLICK HEREto do so.
Below you will find tips on attending, speaking at, and eCommenting on city council meetings and linked at bottom you will find Councilwoman Price’s recommendation/agenda item.
Please do all possible to be at this Tuesday's City Council meeting.WE NEED TO SHOW OUR NUMBERS. Consider making a statement (up to 90 seconds) about your issues with parklets. Wear a blue shirt. Sit with other Parking, Not Parklets folks in the rear left of the chamber. Please come at 5pm; don't be late, as the first 30 items scheduled will all be voted on at once, so item #36 should come up pretty quickly.
City Council Meeting 5:00 pm, Tuesday, December 6th Long Beach City Hall 411 W. Ocean Blvd Long Beach, 90802
Consider also providing an eComment for the agenda item. Click the link just below to get to the Dec 6 City Council Agenda page. Near the top center of the page, click on eComment. Scroll down (and move through the pages) to the agenda item; it is currently #36 (that can change) and titled 36. 22-1421 Recommendation to direct City Manager to work with City Attorney and the Director of Public Works to reevaluate the city's ordinances related to permanent parklet approvals, including the requirement for community group input, and come back to the City Council at the next regular meeting with a proposed draft ordinance language change. Click on the item and leave an eComment.https://longbeach.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1059441&GUID=3AE0FE23-2C94-4808-A2A2-1BC2AA2DBCDB&Search=
WE NEED TO SHOW CITY COUNCIL THAT WE ARE AGAINST THE PARKLETS IN BELMONT SHORE.
Thank you! Julie Dean, BSRA President
Attending City Council Meetings Long Beach City Hall: 411 W. Ocean Blvd. Council meetings are on the first floor, southwest corner, of the building. As with courthouses, there is a security screening at the entrance.Council meetings are on Tuesday nights starting at 5 p.m. Not every Tuesday has a meeting.Free parking is available after 4:30 p.m. on council meeting nights at the LAZ Parking Lot (332 W. Broadway, east of Chestnut). It is okay to ignore the "no parking without permit" signs in the city parking structure on council meeting nights. Don’t park at the courthouse lot. It’s locked early.Agendas are generally posted starting on the Thursday or Friday before the next meeting. Calendar and agendas for city council and all commission meetings are at:https://longbeach.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx
You can also find supporting documents attached to the meeting notes and individual agenda items. Note: City Council meeting agendas are revised all the way up to an hour before the council meeting. Items do move.The mayor does not vote but sets the agenda. The nine council members vote on all issues, even if the focus is not in their own district. Council members often defer to the council member who represents the district where the bulk of an issue or question is impactful.
Participating in City Council MeetingsFiling e-comments: Use the link on the right side of the City Council calendar page to open the E-Comments submission page. Each agenda item has its own comment window. E-comments become part of the public record and are included in each council member’s digital packet for the meeting. Deadline to submit e-comments is one hour before the meeting.Commenting in person:To speak on a specific agenda item, go to the council chambers entrance and check the agenda packet for the item number. Fill out a comment card, including the item number, and hand it to the clerk at the entrance. Arrive early before 5 p.m. if you wish to be one of the first speakers on an item, especially if it’s a contentious one.To speak in the general public comments segment of the meeting on a non-agenda item, fill out the comment card and give it to the clerk. General comments are heard toward the beginning of the regular meeting and, if there is a large number of speakers, some at the end of the meeting. You cannot speak on an agenda item during general comments.Time limits: If there are nine or more speakers seeking to speak on any item, the time limit will be capped at 90 seconds per speaker. If there are fewer than nine speakers on an item, the limit is 3 minutes. Always anticipate that other members of the public or interested parties may also be there to speak, some in opposition to your point of view.Process: After an agenda item is called by the chair of the meeting (usually the mayor or vice mayor, but it could be any city council member if the mayor or vice mayor are absent), the clerk will read off the names of those wishing to speak, in order of their card submission. The first five speakers will queue in the middle aisle, and the clerk will call additional groups of five thereafter. There is a clock on the big screen that will count down your speaking time from the moment you start. It will flash when 30 seconds remain. The microphone will generally be muted if/when you exceed your time limit.Tips:Introduce yourself by name and the district number or neighborhood in which you reside. If your background or credentials are relevant to the issue, a brief bit of intro is welcome.Plan and print out your comments ahead of time but try not to read them directly at the meeting. Instead, focus on connecting to the nine council members and mayor directly in front of you. Eye contact and engagement matter. Don’t rely on your phone to reference your thoughts. The battery may fail. Signal may not work.You can file supporting documents ahead of or at the meeting via the City Clerk. Items submitted ahead of the meeting (best to file a day before) will be included in the council members’ packets. Hard copies may be submitted to the clerk to the left side of the council chambers when you arrive. You need to provide 14 copies, with the agenda item, date, and your name on the front of each copy. All submissions become part of the public record.If you’re bringing multiple speakers on a topic, coordinate your comments for maximum impact. Try to end each speaker’s comments with a short, clear request or call to action. (eg: “Please vote no on this issue.”)
