Parking Meters Will Reappear in Santa Ana

Time has apparently expired on free parking in downtown Santa Ana.

By April, the city will begin installing more than 600 parking meters in the downtown area, marking the first time that metered parking has been used there since the mid-1970s. The move, approved by the City Council on Tuesday, is part of an effort to regulate parking in the downtown area, said Roger Kooi, the city’s downtown development manager.

Most of the parking meters will be in the area bounded by Civic Center Drive and 3rd Street, and Spurgeon and Ross streets.

A nickel will buy 12 minutes and a quarter an hour. City officials said the meters will generate about $225,000 a year in revenue.

Response to Complaints

The decision to install the meters again is, in part, a response to complaints by members of the Downtown Santa Ana Business Assn. that parking spaces were being used by downtown employees and even some business owners, instead of customers.

Fifteen years ago, parking meters were removed when merchants complained that the meters restricted access to downtown shops.

“It makes sense,” said Joe Elias, owner of Demetia Jewelers on 4th Street. “I’ve seen too many people park on the street for a long time.” Elias said that the meters would encourage a turnover of customers.

Jack McCulloch, another merchant and property owner, also welcomed the meters. “Any city that is a city has parking meters,” he said. “Other cities haven’t been able to regulate parking any other way.”

Free Mall Parking Cited

But Joe Gilmaker, a local real estate broker, said that meters will drive customers to area malls that offer free parking. “Why should my customers have to pay for parking when they can find free parking?”

Kooi, however, said the price won’t discourage anyone. “People don’t care about paying a quarter,” he declared.

Kooi said that the city will spend about $144,000 a year on personnel and police costs to monitor the meters and enforce violations.