Proposal for Parking Fee Increase Removed From Main Street Plan

A proposed increase in parking fees that sparked fierce opposition from city business leaders has been dropped from the Main Street Specific Plan.

Council members gave their tacit approval to the plan, which is intended to ease downtown area parking problems, limit the number of businesses that sell alcoholic beverages and preserve the “small-town” atmosphere of the city.

Still required is passage of formal resolutions, ordinances and zoning regulations.

A proposal was dropped to raise annual “in lieu” fees charged to about a dozen Main Street businesses from $100 to $350 a space for parking the city requires but the business can’t provide.

But for new businesses, the city will charge a one-time fee of $3,500 for every parking space that is required but not provided.

The parking fees will pay for parking-related improvements in the plan, including ticket machines, additional signs and parking meters in some lots.

Councilwoman Marilyn Bruce Hastings has suggested that some of the funds be used to create a shuttle service from beach area lots to Main Street stores.

During the council’s first review of the blueprint, plans to add a second level to the 8th Street parking lot and purchase land for construction of an additional parking lot--at a total cost of $1.5 million--were dropped.

City officials say they will try to manage the city’s parking problem by attracting visitors to the often unfilled oceanfront parking lots.

A $108,000 proposal for parking meters on Main Street remains in the plan, which has attracted considerable opposition from business owners and some council members. The meters would earn the city about $57,000 a year, according to city officials.

“I just don’t want meters on Main Street,” said Hastings, who represents the city’s Old Town area, which includes Main Street. “It would be just an absolute last resort.”