By JOSEPH KELLARD and KEITH GRANT
The plan does not, however, conform to the wishes of owners of most of those neighboring homes.
"I would rather they not build the houses," said James Hickey, a resident of Vermont Street since 1989. "There's too much housing in this area as it is. During the summer, it's very difficult to find parking around here. This and the other parking lot here are very useful," he said, referring to the adjacent municipal lot.
Brian and Janet Bock believe the lot should remain commercial property.
"We don't need additional homes in this area," Brian Bock said. "It's already congested with housing. The developer argues that developing commercial property doesn't work, but there are already vacant houses in this area, too. And with more houses comes more cars."
"I understand the City wants to make money, but they should make it public property and keep it a parking lot."
Once the site of the West End movie theater that burned down decades ago, the privately-owned lot is open to residents with a parking permit during morning, afternoon and early evening hours. The proposal by Sun America Development of 240 W. Beech St. calls for the construction of four new one-family homes and a small 12-space public parking lot. The parking lot and one house would face Vermont, while the other three homes would line Tennessee up the corner of Beech.
The new lot would have an entrance from Beech Street and exit onto Vermont, where drivers would have to head south to Ocean View.
Long Beach resident Roberta Fiore, part owner of the property, told Zoning Board members that years have been fruitlessly devoted to finding commercial use for the lot, and the only answer seems to be go the way of new homes. Testifying for the developers, realtor Dan Ryan, who has offices on West Beech and East Park Avenue, suggested that commercial use of the property did not seem feasible. He referred to several vacant offices in the area as "evidence" that the West End could not support new businesses, a notion rejected by opponents of the plan at the meeting.
But despite what was mostly opposition at the meeting, not all nearby residents think the plan is a completely terrible idea.
"I'm not that against what they're proposing, but I'm definitely not crazy about it either," said a 19-year resident of Vermont Street who lives across from the parking lot. "It's already congested here enough and the houses are going to block my view of Beech Street. I wish they would just make it a nicer-looking parking lot like the one here," she said, referring to the well-paved municipal lot between Vermont and Virginia Avenues.
"This issue is a double-edged sword. Most of the people who park in that lot go to The Inn," said Pat O'Farrell, who lives on Tennessee Avenue across the street from the parking lot and the popular bar. "All night you hear accidents in that lot. So I think having the homes here would be better. You're always going to have parking problems in this area. People here could alleviate it by parking in their garages, which many of them don't do."
Shokrian said the developers expect to spend about $1.1 million developing the property, with the homes tentatively slated to be listed at about $310,000. The proposed homes would be similar to the three new ones Shokrian is currently constructing on Indiana Avenue.
For some residents, parking congestion is a secondary issue to congested housing, which they feel the new homes would only serve to contribute to.
"We're so used to the open air here," said a Vermont Street resident directly behind the lot. "These houses are going to close us in closer than we already are. I'd rather see a public parking lot put up to reduce the congestion. But they're going to build here no matter what we say."
