Part one of two.
Parking on Main Street remains free.
The City Council on Monday, April 13, 2026, approved updates to Seal Beach’s parking code. The vote was 4-1.
The parking code updates included changing the language of the city code to reflect existing technology, and create a framework for residential parking permits. The code update also included the state’s “daylighting” law that prohibits parking near crosswalks.
One word was changed to address concerns about a section of the code that refers to a 2002 map.
Some members of the public thought the council would add paid parking to Main Street, that didn’t happen. (There are still lots off the street that require paid parking.)
According to city staff, the proposed changes simply modernized the current parking code.
One word changed
The council, apparently in response to public concerns about the wording of the code, changed one word of the ordinance. The word appeared in a paragraph referring to paid parking zones on the Main Street area.
Though it wasn’t a formal public hearing, the council took public comments on the issue before the regular public comment part of the council meeting.
However, former council member Ellery Deaton expressed the opinion that the code already allows paid parking on Main Street. (See below under “About the ordinance”.)
The council also discussed whether to update the parking zone map, but that would require Coastal Commission approval.
City Attorney Nick Ghirelli suggested taking out references to Main Street.
However, Police Chief Michael Henderson wondered whether that might require Coastal Commission approval. Julie Dixon, the city’s parking consultant, said the streets needed to be identified.
On the advice of the city attorney, District Four Councilwoman Patty Senecal made a motion to remove the word “and” from between the words “municipal parking lots” and the streets listed in the sentence.
The sentence in the code originally said: “Paid parking zones are hereby established at the off-street municipal parking lots and along Main Street, Ocean Avenue, Central Avenue, and Electric Avenue as delineated on the “City of Seal Beach Parking Meter Zone Map” dated September 23, 2002.” The first “and” was removed.
The updated version of the word removed “parking meters” from the old code.
District Two Councilman Ben Wong seconded the motion.
District Three Councilwoman/Mayor Lisa Landau asked if the change was not made, would that mean there would be paid parking on Main Street the next day.
Ghirelli said no. According to Ghirelli, any rate or charge would have to be approved by the council.
“So it’s almost a moot point, then,” Landau said.
The council then voted.
District Five Councilman Nathan Steele cast the sole dissenting vote against the word change.
After the meeting, Steele said he voted no because he thought the motion was to remove the word “not” from the parking ordinance. He said he considered the word immaterial.
Chamber board member Rob Jahncke, a member of the past ad hoc parking advisory committee, also spoke against paid parking after the council voted on the code update.
The Sun will have more details about the parking discussion next week.
About the ordinance
Police Chief Michael Henderson elaborated on the proposed changes in an April 11, 2026 email to the Sun.
“The proposed ordinance does not authorize a new paid parking program in Old Town, nor does it expand paid parking onto Main Street through indirect means,” Henderson wrote.
“The paid parking zone in Old Town already exists. It has been part of the City’s parking zone map since 2002, and that map was not modified by this ordinance. (‘§ 8.15.105. Paid Parking Zones. A. Paid parking zones are hereby established at the off-street municipal parking lots and along Main Street, Ocean Avenue, Central Avenue, and Electric Avenue as delineated on the ‘City of Seal Beach Parking Meter Zone Map’ dated September 23, 2002.’),” Henderson wrote.
The Sun has made a Public Records Act request for a copy of the map.
“The parking zone dates back to the previous Coastal Commission approval for paid parking on Main Street. The City did not implement at that time and the Coastal Commission permit expired. This language is existing because it was approved by the City Council at that time” Henderson wrote.
“The program was never implemented and would still be subject to review and approval. This was discussed by the Parking Ad Hoc committee,” Henderson wrote.
“The code update simply modernizes outdated terminology so that the Municipal Code accurately reflects the tools and technology currently being used to administer the existing program, including parking pay stations, mobile payments, pay by text, and related signage” Henderson wrote.
“The current code refers to a parking meter. ‘Parking meter’ is not defined in the California Vehicle Code and since our technology has evolved as we eliminated the single space parking meters, this is an effort to broaden the language to be inclusive of all the technology that we are currently using” Henderson wrote.
“We broadened the term to a paid parking zone, because you can pay by text or by mobile,” Henderson wrote. (Henderson underlined and italicized the words “paid parking zone” in his email.
“The pay stations within the paid parking zone and identified by location in the code as the ‘off-street municipal lots’ are listed on the City website. Which is why we need to update the language because the meters were taken out a few years ago,” Henderson wrote.
“Paid parking is enforced daily from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, and parking must be paid by plate.
“The Main Street paid parking locations are as follows:
“120 Main Street Lot: 2 pay stations & Passport Mobile Zone #9079
“300 (E) Main Street Lot: 1 pay station & Passport Mobile Zone #9077
“301 (W) Main Street Lot: 1 pay station & Passport Mobile Zone #9078,” Henderson wrote.
“This is a housekeeping and modernization effort intended to align the code with the current operation of the City’s existing paid parking system and to ensure the City’s code is clear, enforceable, and current,” Henderson wrote.
“If the City were to consider any expansion of paid parking beyond the current program, that would require separate City Council review and approval. That has not occurred here. Any such proposal would need to be presented openly and acted on directly by the Council. Section 8.15.105.B of the Municipal Code also states that the City Council must approve any rate to be charged for parking on Main Street, which the City Council has not done,” Henderson wrote.
“The parking zone map was approved in 2002. We did nothing to modify this. Any expansion of the current program would need to be approved by City Council. All changes were affiliated with the technology currently being utilized today,” Henderson wrote.
City Attorney Nicholas Ghirelli wrote in an April 13, 2026 email that the council would have to approve any rate charged for parking in a “meter zone” and the council had not done that.
“As a result, whether or not Main Street is part of a historic ‘paid parking zone,’ the fact remains that there are no meters on Main Street and the City Council has not approved a charge for parking on Main Street,” Ghirelli wrote.
According to an April 11 email from Deaton, the City Council approved buying parking meters by three votes in 2002. She wrote that when then-Council Member Charles Antos was elected, the vote was reversed. “Because of the cost of re-stocking the meters, the city kept them and used them to replace meters in other parts of the town that failed,” Deaton wrote.
“However … they never took out the code language. Then in 2024 the City Council established a committee which recommended NO paid parking on Main. And yet … they still did not change the code. Now, they are modernizing the code and have still left it in riding roughshod over the opinion of business, residents and visitors,” Deaton wrote.
“The code needs to be modernized properly reflecting that the businesses, residents and visitors (according to the opinion poll taken by Julie Dixon in 2024) do not want paid parking on Main. Seal Beach is different and should reflect that difference,” Deaton wrote. Julie Dixon of Dixon Resources Unlimited is the city’s parking consultant.
The transcript of the 2002 council meeting is not currently available on the city website. The “E-records in Laserfiche” page is currently down. A notice on the website says the city is rebuilding the site.)
