City staff on Oct. 26 proposed five-year parking program for Main Street that included paid parking and shopper passes.
Staff requested council authority to apply for a development permit from the California Coastal Commission to launch the program. If the CCC issued a permit, staff would come back to the council to implement paid parking. The two hour time limit and the re-parking rules would remain the same under the staff proposal.
However, a divided council took no action last night. The matter will return to the council on a future date. District Three Councilwoman/Mayor Lisa Landau moved the parking issue ahead of the Consent Calendar. Landau recused herself from the discussion.
Discussion
The following is not a transcript, but a summary of the discussion.
District Four Councilwoman Patty Senecal moved to table the issue until after the District One election and a new council member is seated. If the election goes to a runoff, the matter would come back to the council in March. District Two Councilman Ben Wong seconded the motion.
The vote ended in a tie. District One Council Member Joe Kalmick and District Five Councilman Nathan Steele advocated going forward with the application. Later in the meeting, Kalmick moved to submit the application to the Coastal Commission. Steele seconded. That vote also ended in a tie.
Senecal expressed concern that the city had not shared the proposal with residents. She said she was very concerned about spillover into residential neighborhoods. She said hair salons needed more than two hours for parking. She said a five-year plan seemed too long.
Steele asked if the council was going to throw out the existing parking laws and start all over again or focus on the proposal in front of them.
Wong said there was a lot to discuss. Wong and Steele debated the current two-hour parking time limit. The police chief suggested looking at extending hours in the off-street lots.
Kalmick said the council could sit there for months. He said the city has a balanced budget, but the city doesn’t have the funds to bring Main Street into a condition that would get people to want to come here. Kalmick questioned the value of free parking if there is no small town atmosphere any more. “What are we trying to accomplish here?” Kalmick asked.
Wong wanted to know if the city could change the terms of the program once the Coastal Commission issues the development permit.
Chief Henderson described the proposal as a framework that would be open to conversation.
According to Police Chief Michael Henderson, who gave the staff presentation, the focus of the proposal was to improve parking. Henderson told the council that Main Street area parking was regularly reaching the 85% occupancy benchmark, especially during the high season. According to his slide presentation, the peak season is April 1-Sept. 30. The off-peak season is Oct. 1-March 31.
If approved, the parking program would eventually have a higher rate for the peak season and a lower rate for the off-season.
Henderson said the city had been looking at paid parking on Main Street for decades.
Steele argued in favor of submitting the application.
Wong said he agreed in principal with the proposal, but execution was different. “I would rather get it right,” Wong said. He said the proposal was weak on details. He also said there should be some form of paid parking on Main Street. He also argued to table the proposal. He also opposed dragging out the discussion for another two years.
Julie Dixon, Seal Beach’s parking consultant, who participated remotely, said Seal Beach had discussed paid parking with Coastal Commission staff but had not presented them with a framework. Dixon said it was subject to the council’s discussion and approval first.
Wong questioned the five-year plan and whether the council should wait until after the election. He asked if the money from parking would be earmarked or go into the General Fund. He said he could not accept the proposal as drafted.
City Attorney Nicholas Ghirelli said until staff sees the language of a Coastal Commission permit, it was difficult to say how much discretion the council would have.
Henderson said both the council and the CCC would have to agree on the terms.
Ghirelli suggested adding language to the resolution saying that the council would not approve the program until the council approved the terms of the Coastal Commission permit.
Steele said he wanted revenue from out of town people. He said paid parking on Main Street was inevitable. He predicted it would be good for Seal Beach businesses. He said Main Street needs investment. He said he was not interested in his district spending more on Main Street. He said District Five should not have to subsidize businesses on Main Street. He said all the city was doing was going to the CCC. He did not want to make cuts to services. He argued that people who go to the beach use free parking on Main. He argued the parking on Main Street was worth $10 million and Seal Beach charges zero dollars for it.
“We are not known for our free parking,” he said. “We are known for our beach. We are known for our Main Street.”
Steele estimated that if the city sent the application to the CCC, it would take six months to come back. He argued the issue was automatically tabled.
Wong asked Kalmick and Senecal if they would be open to an amendment to charge for two hours of parking with the option to extend the time spent parking.
Senecal said she might be open to it, but the fact they were discussing so much meant the proposal wasn’t ready to move forward.
Finance Director Barbara Arenado said the conversation with the Coastal Commission could take six months or two years. “We’re pushing this farther and farther out,” she said.
Dixon said they would not go to CCC without council support.
According to Dixon, if council changes what the Coastal Commission approves, it would have to go back to the CCC.
Steele argued that the terms of the proposal were crafted to be acceptable to the CCC.
Henderson said the Coastal Commission would not support free benefits for residents.
When the second vote on the issue ended in a tie, Kalmick said: “I wish you all the best of luck.”
Background
According to the staff report prepared by Seal Beach Police Capt. Nick Nicholas of the Support Services Bureau, the proposal would include:
• A peak rate of $3/hour on Main.
• An off-peak rate of $1/hour on Main.
• A peak rate of $1/hour on public Main Street lots.
• Free off-peak rate for the public Main Street lots.
• A $70 annual Shopper Pass (two per household) for up to two consecutive hours a day in the Main Street area.
If the California Coastal Commission approves the coastal development permit, staff will come back to the council with updated cost and revenue information and funding requests.
“Payment would be required during the proposed hours, except on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. Posted time limits and other parking restrictions would still apply on those holidays,” Nicholas wrote.
“During the peak season, the proposed $3.00 hourly rate would apply to designated on-street spaces and $1.00 on the three Main Street public lots. During the off-peak season, designated on-street spaces would cost $1.00 per hour and the lots would be free. The existing two-hour limit would remain in effect,” Nicholas wrote.
Payment would be required from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. through the peak season, according to the report. During the off-season, on-street payment would be required from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to the report. To repeat: peak season would be April 1-Sept. 30. The off- season would be Oct. 1-March 31
“Main Street public lots would be free during the off-peak season,” Nicholas wrote.
Staff recommended an annual parking rate review, according to the report.
According to the report, if the program caused parking spillover, staff would recommend responses.
According to the report, the medium-use scenario would generate $845,378 in gross revenue. Currently, the lot revenue is $71,817, according to the Nicholas report.