Residents living on Franklin Street and blocks near Santa Monica Boulevard and Centinela Avenue will have fewer “revelers” parking in their neighborhood as the Santa Monica City Council adopted a resolution to extend the hours of preferential parking restrictions of Zone VV at its general meeting on April 26.
In addition to adopting the amended parking zone, the council also established Parking Zone Y for area bounded by Ashland Avenue, 23rd Street, Dewey Street, and 16th Street.
“Residents of two neighborhoods have petitioned to amend or establish preferential parking regulations because unregulated non-resident parking is impacting their ability to find parking near their homes,” Planning Director Eileen Fogarty stated in her staff report to the council.
At issue for both residential neighborhoods were increased difficulties for dweller there to find parking near their homes and disruptive behavior by non-residents.
Specifically, Franklin Street residents sought an extension of parking restrictions in the neighborhood to prevent patrons of the nearby Busby’s West Sports Bar to park there. Accordingly, residents sought overnight parking restrictions
“Because we are the only block in that neighborhood that allows parking after midnight, we end up being the place where everyone parks,” resident Rajiv Malhotra told the council.
Just the same, residents who live in the newly established Zone Y area had to compete with Santa Monica College students for parking.
“In Zone VV, the established regulations end at midnight and non-residents utilize these streets when patronizing a nearby sports bar. In addition to hindering residents’ ability to find parking near their homes, residents contend that the behavior of the patrons as they return to their vehicles results in unsafe and disruptive conditions,” Fogarty added in her report. “Similarly, residents of several blocks in the proposed Zone Y are unable to find parking near their homes because spaces are occupied by Santa Monica College students.”
Zone VV extends the hours of preferential parking restrictions on Franklin Street between Santa Monica Boulevard and Colorado Avenue, as well as on Broadway Street and Colorado Avenue between Berkeley Street and Centinela Avenue. Drivers may park their cars in Zone VV for two hours between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Permit parking is required at all other times.
“One of the worst things is to be awakened from a sound sleep. We’d be very glad if you can continue the permit parking past midnight, which is all it goes to now, all the way through (to) essentially (become) 24-hour parking,” Douglas Bruce, a Franklin Street resident who added the EuroCar automobile repair shop causes parking issues in the neighborhood, told the council. “Between the noise waking us up and the parking places being stolen by late night revelers and the repair shop, we just have to have (the parking restriction) around the clock.”
Residents in the Zone VV parking area would pay $15 annually for each permit.
Meanwhile, Zone Y restricts parking in its area to two hour parking between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. during weekdays, except by permit.
New signage would have to be installed in both zones to reflect the council’s adoptions; the initial costs for the new signage, according to City Staff, is $6,000.
“As imperfect as preferential parking is, it’s the best tool we have developed,” Council member Kevin McKeown stated. “There’s no other solution out there that people have come up with that works better than to at least give the people who live on a block a shot at being able to park close enough to home. I think the needs of people who live on the street have to come first.”
