While P-T photographer Jeff Gritchen and I were on assignment at Heartwell Park Thursday morning, he noticed signs tacked to several trees in the 5700 block of Parkcrest Street that read:
"Please respect our neighbors. Park in the parking lot or on Carson St. Thank you."
At the bottom of the placards were the Long Beach city seal and the Department of Parks, Recreation and Marine logo.
The only problem: The city did not attach the signs to the trees.
It's legal to park on Parkcrest.
The signs were posted by the city on park grounds -- but not on trees -- during a recent soccer tournament that drew sizeable crowds to the neighborhood, said 5th District Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske.
"So what happened is somebody in the neighborhood picked them up after the tournament was over and affixed them to trees," Schipske said after contacting the parks department about the matter. "I understand their frustration with the parking, but you can't nail stuff to trees."
Due to the car volume on game days, Schipske said she has talked with residents about possible preferential parking in the area but is not yet sure about how much support the idea has in the neighborhood.
Schipske said the signs would be removed.
So go ahead and park on Parckcrest -- except on street-sweeping days.
