Santa Monica : Beach Parking Cheating
People who have been parking in beach parking lots with so-called honor boxes without paying the fee may soon find themselves paying the cost of a citation instead.
The City Council on Tuesday night directed the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would allow police to ticket vehicles whose drivers fail to deposit fees in the unattended honor boxes. The item is expected back before the council in about a month.
There are honor boxes at three beach parking lots: 810 Pacific Coast Highway, and 1670 and 1750 Appian Way.
Early last year, the city installed the honor boxes to generate income from those lots, which were deemed too small to pay for a staffed operation.
But the private operator, Executive Parking Inc., reported that many people were parking without paying. Police patrols of the three parking lots are expected to increase the annual revenue from $39,000 to nearly $90,000.
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