Santa Monica residents are not pleased with the city's plan to introduce parking meters in residential areas.
The Santa Monica Daily Press reports that the city has proposed a pilot program that would add 350 new parking meters to streets that branch off main arteries like Wilshire, Santa Monica and Lincoln.
The purpose is to discourage parking in neighborhoods by people who don't live there. Even though residents with preferential parking permits would be exempt, it's still not sitting well with folks who live there for a number of reasons. Besides the eyesore factor, it would result in the loss of parking space since metered spots need to accommodate an SUV, regardless of what size vehicle actually parks there, the Daily Press points out.
The concept was introduced at the May 29 City Council meeting, where some council members voiced support for less ugly pay kiosks. However, that method is a lot more expensive and harder to enforce, according to Don Patterson, assistant director of the city's finance department.
John C. Smith, vice president of Mid-City Neighbors, spoke out against the idea. “They’re too unsightly and intrusive and they might actually encourage more cars to park there,” he said at the meeting. He suggested improving time limits and enforcement in existing preferential parking areas.
“It would just be really inconvenient for our guests to come down here . . . they’d have to pay every two hours,” resident Carla Stangle said at the meeting, according to CBS. “The city already makes so much money in parking tickets and meters, I don’t think there’s need for any more,” Stangle said.
The pilot program would last between three and six months but a start date has not been set.
The last time the city implemented new parking meters didn't exactly go over well with residents either.
Related:
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