MAILBAG - March 29, 2007

Street closure could be problematic

Once again, an Independent editorial (“Be open to street closure,” March 22) tries to be well-meaning but lacks a big-picture understanding of the issue.

Any success the largely “promotional” Surf City Nights enjoys has nothing to do with the suitability of closing any part of Main Street down on a permanent basis.

I should add that I attended a previous Tuesday event and had a good time. I even sampled the outdoor barbecued ribs from Smokin’ Mo’s and bought some strawberries from one of the vendors. It was all good.

Making any part of Main Street a pedestrian mall would be a traffic and parking nightmare. Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade (which I have patronized in the past) has two huge differences.

First, it runs parallel to the coast and does not provide a major artery through the city (as does, say, Santa Monica Boulevard).

Main Street is irreplaceable in connecting, especially the Civic Center area with the pier and Pacific Coast Highway. The residential dynamics of the two areas are also different.

It would be problematic at best to route traffic down different streets around a blocked section of Main Street. It would also be problematic to prevent traffic access from Pacific Coast Highway onto Main Street.

Second, the Third Street Promenade benefits from a huge parking structure that takes the pressure off on-street parking for a pedestrian mall. Our downtown parking structure is already crowded with current usage and would not be able to accommodate the loss of store-front parking on Main Street during the day. The Strand development will further complicate matters and cause additional traffic and parking nightmares.

The Independent should be more concerned with the realistic planning needs of our fairly large city and less enchanted by the romantic vision of what “little” Main Street could be if it wasn’t connected to the rest of downtown Huntington Beach.

TIM GEDDES

Huntington Beach

K-Mart’s absence is being felt

Has anyone calculated how much in tax revenue has been lost since closing the K-Mart at Magnolia Street and Garfield Avenue?

What a waste of good property. I am not in favor of Home Depot going in there, but it would be better than the blight it has become. It is such an eyesore and certainly does nothing to enhance the landscape of our city.

Some folks are concerned about a 99 Cent store going in on Brookhurst Street and Hamilton Avenue, but I think that is less a problem than a large, neglected corner that is traversed by many on a daily basis. Where is our community pride and who are the decision makers who have let this stagnate for so long?

BARBARA SHEPARD

Huntington Beach

Zini nailed it on the head last week

Bravo to Tony Zini for telling it like it is regarding the educational administrators (“A teacher’s note to school administrators,” March 22).

JEANNE WHITESELL

Huntington Beach