Citizens angry about paid on-street parking flooded Thursday’s La Jolla Community Planners Association meeting to protest another step in the process of the pilot parking program.
In what was supposed to be an explanation of the latest pilot plan to the planning group by parking board members, Marty McGee announced that the group’s goal was to create an influx of income to “build garages off street.” He explained that “Yes, it is about the money” and “we don’t have control of any garages.” McGee said the goal of the paid on-street parking plan was to raise money to buy garages to accommodate Village employees.
But La Jolla has many existing garages and aboveground lots. From Coast Boulevard to Wall Street alone, six garages and four aboveground lots exist, with both vacant spaces and employee parking.
“It’s mostly employees who park here,” said Clyde Heinze of Ace Parking, at the garage owned by Alfred Howe on Jenner Street. “There are 152 employees who park here a month and there are 220 spaces.”
The La Jolla Parking District Advisory Board has studied the existing parking structures around the village. Because it is difficult for employees to add parking to other financial burdens, Promote La Jolla subsidizes some of the parking, said Paul Metcalf, Bird Rock’s representative on the La Jolla Parking District Advisory Board.
“The other thing is that the spaces that appear to be empty are contracted, so all the space that looks available can’t be rented,” Metcalf said.
In addition to the Jenner Street garage, Heinze has worked at the three-story Regents Bank garage in the village, where there are 126 monthly permits among the 180 total spaces, he said.
Both garages keep about 30 percent of their spots vacant and reserve the remainder of the spaces for permits, but Heinze said he doesn’t usually sell all of the allocated 159 permits since only 152 employees are currently registered.
“The garage that does get filled around here is our La Jolla Financial building at 1200 Prospect, and that’s around lunchtime,” Heinze said. “We have to put a closed sign from about 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the afternoon.”
Although the parking plan’s goal is to build more parking garages, many of the aboveground lots appear empty.
“There’s just no incentive to pay $3 a day when you can park on the street for free,” Metcalf said. “I’m no different.”
And driving around to find those free spaces is an environmental concern. The other concern that spawned the program is that most of the free spaces are in residential locations, he said.
Though residents are whom the plan was primarily meant for, Metcalf said the backlash toward the parking board has come from that part of the community.
The current draft of the plan has evolved to an opt-in plan, in which residents and merchants in the affected areas can choose to do nothing or to be part of the program. Metcalf and others on the parking board attended Thursday’s planning meeting to explain the current version of the plan.
Although LJCPA President Tim Golba predicted a civil discussion between the planners and the parking board ” an agenda item tabled from last month’s meeting ” the discourse quickly became heated, with members of the audience yelling when displeased or clapping with support.
Thursday’s unruly meeting was likely a precursor to the Dec. 19 meeting of the La Jolla Parking District Advisory Board, during which they plan to fully define the pilot-parking plan and other citizens will unveil their own parking plans.
“I’m firmly in favor of deliberations on parking happening in public places ” therefore, any plan that I bring forward will happen on December 19,” said Darcy Ashley of the LJCPA, who is an alternate on the parking board. “My concern is with managing parking and not raising funds.
“The plan I will be presenting will be addressing parking and not necessarily fund-raising.”
According to Ashley, others will present their plans at the Dec. 19 meeting.
“They understand that meeting will be important,” Ashley said. “The issue hasn’t been resolved.”
The current draft of the paid on-street parking plan will be up for discussion Dec. 19, Metcalf said.
“It would be easier if there was a little more trust,” he said. “I’m the Bird Rock representative and I will vote how the Bird Rock people want to vote. I hope I can convince them, but It will be a public meeting and then a vote [in Bird Rock]…It’s for them.”
The next paid on-street parking plan discussion will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 19 at La Jolla Recreation Center, 615 Prospect St., said Promote La Jolla’s Tiffany Sherer.
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