Long Beach News Shorts

Superblock to be cleaned up?

The weeds on the Superblock, the long-vacant lot on Broadway between Long Beach and Riverside boulevards, have overgrown the high chain-linked fence surrounding the property, resident Al Symons told the City Council at its Tuesday meeting.
“Things are alive there,” said Symons, who asked the council how the city could have let the property become so neglected, and suggested it be cleaned up. City Manager Charles Theofan suggested he would look into getting the area cleaned. He was unavailable for further comment at press time on Wednesday morning.

Barbara Masters, a resident of Neptune Towers at 25 Neptune Blvd., has called on the City to buy a vacant lot and build a parking lot in the East End.
Calling the East End the “stepchild of the city” when it comes to parking issues, Masters told the City Council on Tuesday that the area is more densely populated than the West End due to its many highrises, and that even in the winter, residents driving home from work at night must routinely circle their blocks several times and are lucky to find parking spots two or three blocks away.
Masters presented a letter to the council with 61 signatures, mostly from residents in her apartment building, proposing that the city buy the lot on Shore Road between Neptune and Franklin boulevards, to build either a two-level parking area, with 44 spaces, or a one-level lot, with 25.
City Manager Charles Theofan said the city is in the process of appraising the property. Masters said she was told that Theofan is not authorized to do the appraisal now. He was unavailable for further comment at press time on Wednesday morning.
At the meeting, he said he has other ideas about parking solutions for that area and will meet with the High Rise Association to discuss them.

Rusty tap water in the East End

Fran Adelson, a Long Beach Realtor who is a Democratic candidate for City Council, brought a jar of tap water from her home, discolored by rust and sediment, to the City Council meeting on Tuesday. Adelson, who lives in the East End near the Clark Street Park, which is undergoing reconstruction, wanted to know if there is a wider problem with the tap water in the area.
Kevin Mulligan, the commissioner of public works, said that the problem was due to the city shutting off water valves in the area in order to install a new water main as part of the park reconstruction project. He said that now that the work is complete, there should be no further problems with the tap water.

~ Joseph Kellard