Council splits on quiet zone development permit

The City Council has found itself once again at odds with the California Coastal Commission.

City staff said a coastal development permit issued by the city for the establishment of a preferential parking district around the Mozambique restaurant is not appealable to the commission. Commission staff members disagreed.

The council on Tuesday approved the permit 3 to 2, with the staff’s recommendation. Mayor Pro Tem Jane Egly and Councilwoman Verna Rollinger dissented.

Egly said the restricted parking does not solve the problem of allowing a nightclub to operate in a residential area. Rollinger, who also opposed the zone, said the city should work with the commission on projects.

Mozambique is at South Coast Highway and Agate Street, next to the Fire Station 2.

Under the permit’s terms, nighttime parking will be restricted to vehicles with city shopper’s permits or residence-specific guest passes on both sides of Glenneyre Street up to, but not including, Carmelita Street, between both sides of Center Street to, but not including, Bluebird Canyon Drive.

“Why have this?” neighbor Charlotte Bell asked. “We need to stop making more rules.”

Restricted parking, however, was not the main driver of the program.

“This is not about parking; it’s about noise,” Iseman said.

The program was triggered by complaints about lewd activities, alcohol use and excessive noise by restaurant and bar patrons who were parking their vehicles on neighborhood streets rather than using Mozambique’s valet parking.

The permit will be reviewed in September.