Parking and a pear tree

The Chico City Council approved two items related to downtown parking during its meeting on Tuesday (Feb. 4).

The council voted unanimously to convert the metered parallel parking spaces along Flume Street between Second and Seventh streets to unmetered diagonal parking. It also voted 6-1, with Mayor Scott Gruendl dissenting, to temporarily convert one of the parking spaces in front of the Naked Lounge Tea & Coffeehouse to corral-style bike parking.

In another matter, the council voted to uphold the Bidwell Park and Playground Commission’s decision to deny Stott Advertising’s request to remove a pear tree that partially blocks a billboard on Park Avenue, though the city agreed to prune the tree to make the sign more visible.