By:Chris Munzing
In the past, the city's building inspectors had to track down landlords to serve them with summonses, a time-consuming and expensive process. City Council President Jim Hennessy said that representatives of the building department have spent weeks traveling across Long Island just to serve one person a summons.
Shoppers' Special adds new
Wednesday stops
The chore of picking up groceries and running midweek errands just got easier for many Long Beach residents, with the expansion of the Long Beach Shoppers' Special bus route. The city's Department of Transportation announced Jan. 27 that 19 additional stops have been added to the trolley-style bus service for Wednesday runs, a day when many local businesses offer senior-citizen discounts. The stops will not be available the rest of the week.
"The expansion of the Shoppers' Special bus route will be a great convenience to West End residents, and for residents in the center and east end of town who might enjoy shopping in the West End," City Manager Charles Theofan said. "It eliminates the nuisance of parking and hauling packages to your car. Now you can let us do the driving."
The bus regularly runs from the Long Beach bus depot, at Park Avenue and Edwards Boulevard, and loops at Lindell Boulevard to provide service to the north and south sides of the city. The additional stops included in the new Wednesday run will now extend the route to the Ohio Turnaround in the West End.
"It's our hope that businesses along the route will offer their own 'shopper specials' on Wednesdays to encourage more people to use the service," said Theofan.
The first Shoppers' Special bus leaves the depot at 9:30 a.m., and the last leaves at 3 p.m. It costs 50 cents for seniors, students and those with a handicapped pass, and $1.50 for all others. The changes took effect on Feb. 2.
The additional stops are:
On Lindell Boulevard: Walnut Street and Beech Street.
Westbound Beech Street: Grand Boulevard, New York Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Wyoming Avenue, Tennessee Avenue, Maryland Avenue, Georgia Avenue, Illinois Avenue.
Ohio Turnaround at West Beech and Ohio Avenue.
Eastbound Beech Street: Connecticut Avenue, Indiana Avenue, Minnesota Avenue, Virginia Avenue, Delaware Avenue, Arizona Avenue, New York Avenue, Grand Boulevard.
ZBA streamlines decisions
The Zoning Board of Appeals streamlined its decision-making process by drastically cutting the time residents and business owners must wait for a decision on applications, the city announced Jan. 28.
Following a hearing for a zoning variance, a decision will now be rendered in five business days. Previously petitioners could expect a wait of up to several months. "Now you can file a petition on day one and, if approved, start building on day six," Hennessy said.
"Conducting business with city government should not be an ordeal," Councilwoman Mona Goodman said. "This streamlined process is another step in the process of reforming municipal processes in Long Beach."
The change in the waiting period takes place immediately.
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