City Council Meeting: January 8, 2008

Agenda Item: 8-A 

To:                   Mayor and City Council 

From:              Eileen Fogarty, Director of Planning and Community Development

Subject:          Resolution establishing off-peak parking rate at Library and Civic garages and authorizing City Manager to allow free or reduced rate parking for up to 25 evening events per year at the Santa Monica High School. 

 

Recommended Action

Staff recommends that City Council:

 

1.                  Adopt attached Resolution establishing a $3.00 per entry off-peak parking rate at the Library and at the Civic Center, when there are no events scheduled;

 

2.                  Authorize the City Manager or designee to allow free or reduced rate parking for up to 25 evening events at Santa Monica High School; and

 

3.                  Authorize the City Manager or designee to allow free or reduced parking rates for City-sponsored noticed meeting or events that are free and open to the public.

 

Executive Summary

Staff is proposing that the Council adopt a maximum daily parking rate of $3 at the library structure on weekends and holidays and at the civic structure on non-event weekends and holidays.   The purpose of this rate is to draw price-sensitive, long-term daily parkers away from busy downtown structures when there is space available in other nearby facilities.  It would also reduce the amount patrons of the library would pay, if they stay for more than three hours on a weekend.  With the assistance of Bayside District Corporation, staff will promote the rate to retail employees who drive to work.    

 

Staff is also proposing authorization for a long-standing practice of providing free or reduced rate parking for a limited number of evening events held at Santa Monica High School, City-sponsored events and publicly-noticed meetings. Though no further recommendation is being made at this time for reduced rate student parking, City and School District staff continue to discuss this issue.  Currently the School District is studying its parking demand, and the City has agreed to review that demand in conjunction with demand in the Civic Center area to see whether there are opportunities for sharing parking resources and/or developing additional parking. These discussions include Santa Monica College (SMC).  Staff will continue discussions and report back to Council on the status.  The reduced parking rate is anticipated to be offset by the availability of additional standard rate parking in the downtown with greater turnover and the City has not received revenue from the District in the past for the use of the Civic lot for these special school events.  Finally, as noted in the report, staff can now replace the bike lane along Main Street between Pico and City Hall by removing the temporary angled parking along Main Street.  There is no anticipated net fiscal impact associated with the rate changes. After one year of operation, staff will report its findings to Council.

 

 

Discussion

Library Parking Structure

The City opened the library parking structure in January 2006.  The structure was expected to generate $30,000 per month in revenue, and to serve public parking needs as well as parking needs of library patrons and staff.  

 

Transportation Management staff has been monitoring occupancy and revenue to ensure that the structure serves the purposes for which it was constructed, and generates sufficient revenue to cover operating costs.   Initially, parking was provided to hourly visitors, library staff and former monthly parkers only.  Over the past year, however, staff has increased the number of monthly permits sold, to 350 per month, by marketing them to people on the downtown structure waiting list and to merchants in close proximity to the library structure itself.  The current goal is to issue about 400-425 monthly permits for this structure.  The City has also recently allocated some space in the library structure to Engineering and Architecture staff.  This parking facility is included as a stop on the holiday parking shuttle route, and is served by the new Mini Blue Tide Ride that also serves the downtown area. 

 

Although weekday occupancy at the library structure continues to grow, and revenue expectations are met, the structure still has additional capacity.  The structure is less heavily used on weekends than during the week.  Revision to the weekend rate structure could make library parking an attractive alternative for some retail employees and relieve some pressure on downtown parking structures during busy weekend periods.

 

Based on current parking patterns, staff estimates that reducing the maximum rate to $3/day on weekends could result in a net loss of $344 per weekend (or approximately $18,000 annually).  However, it’s anticipated that this will be offset by revenue from available parking spaces in the downtown at standard rates, as well as additional usage at the Library structure.

 

 

Civic Parking Structure

 Monthly parking is available at the Civic Structure at the same rate as other downtown facilities.  Ultimately, this facility will be needed to serve Civic Center demand.  It was constructed ahead of demand so as to be available to provide relief to the downtown while several older facilities there are torn down and rebuilt.   Daily parking demand is expected to increase as metered, angled parking installed temporarily along Main Street between Pico and City Hall during the garage construction now can be removed. The removal of the temporary angled parking will allow the replacement of the bike lane along Main Street.   The Civic Structure also has availability on weekends and holidays.  Staff is proposing the $3 weekend and holiday rate at this facility as well, except when the Civic Auditorium is hosting an event. 

 

Beginning in January, staff is also shifting about 278 Santa Monica Place employees from parking in Structure 5 on weekends to parking in the Civic Structure.

 

High School Parking

Some high school students and parents have requested reduced rate parking for students and school events.  This has a value of approximately $50,000-$65,000 annually at current rates.  The School District previously established a task force on this issue.  This group did not recommend that the District request reduced rate student parking. However, requests for reduced rate parking for students continue. District and City staff have begun discussions on this issue. The School District is studying its parking demand and the City has agreed to review that demand in conjunction with the demand in the Civic Center area to see whether there are opportunities for sharing parking resources and/or developing additional parking. These discussions include Santa Monica College (SMC).  Staff will report back to Council on the status of these discussions

 

Staff is proposing that free/validated parking be provided for up to 25 events, such as PTSA meetings, student concerts and back-to-school nights, per year on non-event days if space is available.  The City has historically provided free parking for evening High School events by not closing the Civic Auditorium Lot on these specific days. The value of this parking, based on the $8.00 daily rate is between $50,000 - $65,000, depending on the number of spaces used.   As an alternative, the Council could consider a $3 flat rate on all non-event evenings, allowing the parking to be available at a low rate whenever the space is not needed for events, which would result in revenue of approximately $20,000 to $25,000.

 

City-Sponsored events and meetings

Staff frequently receives request for parking fee waivers from City-funded non-profit groups, City departments, other governmental agencies and other groups sponsoring an event or activity in Santa Monica. It has been the City’s past practice to provide parking waivers for certain non-profit groups, such as Heal the Bay for beach clean ups. Staff has also provided parking waivers for members of the public attending City-sponsored noticed meetings. In order to have a clear set of criteria for providing parking waivers, staff recommends that the City Manager or his designee be authorized to grant parking waivers for City-sponsored events that are free to the public and for noticed City public meetings. Types of events and meeting that would fall under these criteria are the Land Use and Circulation Element workshops, National Night Out and the Council workshops held most recently at the Main Library.  Events that are not open to the public nor City-sponsored, such as Heal the Bay beach clean ups, would not fall under this parking waiver criteria.  

 

 

Financial Impacts & Budget Actions

Based on current parking patterns, staff estimates that reducing the maximum rate to $3/day on weekends could result in a net loss of $344 per weekend, or approximately $18,000 annually.  However, this should be offset by the availability of additional spaces in the downtown at standard rates.

 

Prepared by:  Lucy Dyke, Transportation Planning Manager

 

 

Approved:

 

Forwarded to Council:

 

 

 

 

 

Eileen Fogarty

Director, Planning and Community Development

 

P. Lamont Ewell

City Manager