Business Owners Fight Parking Lot’s Removal

Owners of businesses near the Fullerton Museum Center, where the city plans to build a downtown plaza, this week opposed a proposal to eliminate 63 nearby parking spaces.

The city wants to eliminate the spaces to make way for the 27,000-square-foot plaza, which would feature a fountain, terraced eating areas and a bandstand. Officials said the people who use the parking spaces--mostly employees of area businesses--would be able to use the four-story parking structure across the street, which has plenty of spaces available to make up for the loss.

But a couple of the business owners, who helped pay for the bonds that funded the parking lot next to the museum off Wilshire Avenue, don’t want to use the structure. They said the lighting is poor and they don’t feel safe parking there.

Officials said they will try to address the concerns, and the City Council will take up the matter again on May 19.