Parking discussion...

In response to concerns from residents in neighborhoods along Ocean Boulevard, City Council is looking for a way to manage and control oceanfront parking in the residential areas, as well as in the commercial districts. 

The current proposal uses a blended system of parking meters and resident-only parking stickers to achieve this goal.  Here's an overview of the parking issues and possible solutions.

The problem...

1.   Residential areas are increasingly filled with cars during the summer months.

2.   Parking is haphazard and unorganized.

3.   City residents sometimes can't find a space to park.

4.   All of this extra parking affects the residential character of the oceanfront neighborhoods.

5.   The south end of the city has parking meters; the north end does not.

The current proposal...

1.   Use meters and paystations to organize and manage parking on Ocean Boulevard and in the streetends.

2.   Issue annual resident permits to vehicles that pay city property taxes. City staff would apply the stickers.

3.   Vehicles with resident permits could park for free in any metered space in the city.

4.   Designate "resident permit only parking" areas in the avenues (just the first block) off Ocean Boulevard and Beach Drive.

5.   Do not meter the avenues themselves.

Residential area enforcement…

1.   Metered parking in residential areas would be in effect only during the daytime (9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.?) and only during the peak season (May through Labor Day?).

2.   At all other times, parking would be free and open to anyone.

3.   During the off season, the meter heads would be removed.

4.   Paystations would most likely be used in the streetends, rather than individual meters.

5.   Charge a higher hourly rate for residential parking meters than for commercial parking meters.

Commercial area enforcement...

1.   Add meters in the northern hotel district to match the other commercial areas.  Parking meters already exist throughout the hotel district from 30th Avenue North to 29th Avenue South.

2.   Meters in the commercial district(s) are in effect from March 15 to September 15, which is longer than the proposed enforcement window for the residential areas.

Other options…

1.   Do nothing.

2.   Make all parking in residential areas east of Kings Highway "permit parking only."  (How do you address access to the surfing zones?)

3.   Add meters just on the street ends and continue to allow random parking on Ocean Boulevard and elsewhere.

4.   Restrict the avenues from Kings Highway to Ocean Boulevard to "residential permit parking only."

5.   Enforce residential parking meters on the Boulevard and in the streetends only on the weekends, or just on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays, during peak season.

6.   Meter just the northern commercial area and do nothing in the residential areas.

Other issues…

1.   There's no such thing as "free" parking.  City taxpayers are paying for the upkeep and maintenance of Ocean Boulevard, the streetends and the dune crossovers.  Non-residents aren't paying anything toward these costs.

2.   Parking demand will continue to grow.  If the parking problem isn't critical now, it likely will be in a few years.

3.   "Resident only" parking stickers would be tied to car taxes, not residency or homeownership.  Anyone who pays city property taxes on their car could get a resident-only parking sticker.

4.   How do you accommodate non-residents who own property in the city and pay some city taxes?

5.   Do you offer parking passes to non-residents?  At what price?

Parking meters work because...

1.   Meters indicate which spaces are public.

2.   Meters establish where parking is allowed.  If it's not metered, it's not a parking space.

3.   Organized, metered parking allows a finite number of spaces.  You can't cram more cars in when it gets busy.

4.   Meters help encourage turnover, so that more people can park over time.

Conclusions… 

Some sort of parking management system or regulation mostly likely will be needed -- if not now, then before too long -- to help preserve the character of the residential neighborhoods and organize the haphazard parking that exists during the peak season.

The "how" is up for discussion… Meters or no meters? Stickers or no stickers? When would meters be in effect? What would the rates be? Would residents get stickers to park for free? Where would meters/paystations be placed? Where would "resident only" parking be enforced? How will stickers be issued and recorded?