Laguna Beach

Changes in Meter Parking: Downtown shoppers will get an extra hour of free parking in the morning beginning this fall, but late-afternoon visitors will have to feed the meters an hour longer. In a unanimous vote Tuesday, the City Council approved a plan to shift the hour motorists must begin paying to park downtown from 9 to 10 a.m. Under the plan, nighttime free parking will resume at 7 p.m. The changes, which are widely supported by downtown merchants who hope it will improve morning business, will be timed to coincide with a planned hike in parking meter rates from 30 cents to 50 cents an hour.