The city council approved 4-1 a parking permit program for homes on Harvard Avenue near the Meat Cellar, in response to complaints from residents.

The permits follow complaints from residents that overflow parking for the restaurant is making parking harder for them and their guests, as well as noise complaints from patrons entering and leaving the restaurant.

Acting City Engineer Maria Tipping told the council that after a survey by the city of traffic and parking patterns in the area, Harvard Avenue was occupied from 63 percent to 88 percent during business hours, compared to the west parking lot being 70 to 103 percent occupied (due to one car observed parked in a loading zone) and the east parking lot occupied from 28 percent to 62 percent.

The permit zone will extend from Foothill Boulevard to 12^th street, and will be enacted seven days a week from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. Residents will receive placards for the zone, and

Resident David Lindley told the council that both the Meat Cellar and the adjacent Wolfe’s deli contribute to the parking woes on his block.

“You have people wanting to park for Wolfe’s deli and wanting to park for the meat cellar and park in front of the houses,” he said.

Councilmember Larry Schroeder voted against the request, noting that if one leg of Harvard Avenue were blocked off, patrons would simply park on other blocks.

“I think we’ve been here before with the Wilderness Park, and we issued permits, and the cars moved down, and we issued more permits, and the cars moved down and we issued more permits,” he said.

The rest of the council approved the request. Mayor Pro Tem Corey Calaycay asked the city to revisit the program in three months, rather than the customary six, if any additional issues pop up.

Sanitation trucks bought

The city council also approved the purchase of three new sanitation trucks, for a grand total of $466,010.

The new purchases are two sanitation support vehicles for $110,010 and one compressed natural gas side loader refuse truck for $356,000. The money will come from the city’s Sanitation Fund, which has a balance of $1.05 million.

Police group contract approved

The city also approved a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Claremont Police Management Association.

The city and the CPMA have been meeting in good faith to hammer out the terms of the contract since February.

Mr. Schroeder pulled the item for discussion to acknowledge a one-time bonus given to the CPMA and to touch on recent chatter in the city about recent bonuses to city employees. He noted that there was “nothing nefarious” about the issue.

“I’m appalled that any citizen would want to portray this as anything other than normal business for the city and would want to attempt to stir up trouble in our community,” he said.

The council approved the MOU unanimously. The next meeting will take place on December 11.

—Matthew Bramlett

news@claremont-courier.com