The Pacific Beach Community Parking District (PBCPD) is inching closer to deciding if City Council should approve metered parking and paid permits for employees and some residents.
Walker Consultants, a Los Angeles-based firm hired by the parking district, has recommended meters and permits as part of a comprehensive parking-management plan. The PBCPD ” a 13-member advisory board made up of representatives from Discover Pacific Beach, the Pacific Beach Town Council (PBTC), the Pacific Beach Community Planning Committee (PBCPC) and the community at large ” decided at its March 13 meeting to further consider meters and permits as well as enforced time limits and special programs for surfers and other local groups.
Saying he was initially skeptical of meters, PBCPD Vice Chairperson Patrick Finucane said, “I honestly haven’t found any other solution. If you want to manage parking, there are very few mechanisms to do it.”
Almost all of the roughly two dozen attendees opposed meters and permits, with reactions ranging from concern to outrage.
“I don’t know if you understand that this community is overwhelmingly opposed to paid parking in PB. The people of PB do not want this!” said Pacific Beach resident Warren Barrett.
“You’re talking about this like it’s a done deal,” he added.
“None of this stuff is going to go anywhere if everyone hates it,” Finucane said, who presided in Chairperson Mike McNeill’s absence.
PBCPD members plan to discuss meters, permits and other proposed strategies with the committees they represent as well as the community at large before making final recommendations to City Council. Finucane said the board hopes to submit a final plan in the next month or two.
Some attendees questioned whether Pacific Beach even has a serious parking problem.
There is no problem inland during the day, agreed Benjamin Nicholls, executive director of Discover Pacific Beach, the group that administers the PBCPD. “But Friday night, you have a problem.”
The Walker report recommends higher prices during peak times of the day and year. Rates would also be greater in busy areas such as Garnet Avenue and the beach, tapering inland.
Many residents said that paying for parking would alter the beach community’s easygoing attitude.
“I think the beach character needs to be preserved,” Jim Darling said. “We don’t have enough beach-flavored environments.”
Installing meters would make Pacific Beach “a commercial mecca,” he said, while creating “chaos at the beach.”
Some attendees said that while parking is already somewhat chaotic, the proposed plan does not offer a viable solution.
“This doesn’t solve the problem, it’s just shuffling it around,” Llewellyn Falco said. “Is it going to shuffle into my neighborhood?”
Displacing parking problems was a concern among many residents, who worried that motorists would avoid meters by finding free spaces in nearby neighborhoods.
“(Residents in those areas) need a residential permit or they’re going to be shut out by meters,” PBCPD member Jim Menders said.
Under the proposed plan, every licensed driver in certain neighborhoods near Garnet Avenue and the beach would receive a residential parking permit and every address would receive one transferable guest permit. Exact fees have yet to be determined, but the city is authorized to charge only enough to cover the costs of administering the permit program.
The Walker report also recommends permits costing $15 to $20 per month, or $46 to $60 per quarter, for employees.
Such permits could discourage business, said Debora Torkington, who works as a massage therapist in Pacific Beach.
Addressing the needs of local businesses, which need available parking for customers, and residents, who want to be able to park in their neighborhoods, is one of the thornier challenges the PBCPD faces.
Commenting on the proposed plan, Phillip Young said, “Is it addressing the problems of businesses or the problems residents have?”
Serving the needs of both groups could prove difficult, if not impossible.
“I don’t want to eliminate any stakeholders,” Menders said. “We do have to decide who’s more important,” he added.
A compromise, such as installing meters at one of every 10 parking spaces or imposing permits only during busy seasons, could strike the right balance, Menders said.
No plan will be effective without adequate enforcement, said Donna Young. “I’ve not seen enforcement around here,” she said. “We should get enforcement now.”
“Enforcement is imperative,” agreed PBTC Director Joe Wilding.
Lack of enforcement has been a longtime source of concern and frustration for residents. Vehicles are often parked for days in prohibited areas without receiving tickets.
Motorhomes, campers, boats and other oversized vehicles parked on city streets for days on end are especially aggravating to residents. An ordinance that would prohibit oversized vehicles from parking on any public street in the pilot areas of Pacific Beach, Mission Beach, Mission Bay, Bay Park, La Jolla and some parts of Clairemont between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. is scheduled to go back to City Council later this month. Mayor Jerry Sanders is currently reviewing the plan to determine cost as well as the exact pilot area.
City Council and the City Attorney have reinstated the PBCPD’s ability to take action. The advisory committee had been barred from taking any official action while the city worked on a conflict of interest code to ensure transparency and that no one on any of the city’s parking advisory boards was benefiting financially or otherwise from committee decisions.
The PBCPD will hold elections, originally scheduled for January, in April. In addition to representatives from Discover Pacific Beach, the PBTC and the PBCPC, the board will appoint four at-large members from the area’s four main quadrants, as divided by Garnet Avenue and Ingraham Street. To be eligible, residents or businesspeople in those areas must obtain 25 signatures from the quadrant they wish to represent.
For more information, email [email protected] or call (858) 273-3303.
The PBCPD’s next meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 10, at the Pacific Beach Recreation Center.
The public is encouraged to attend.
Please call (858) 273-3303 to confirm as meeting time and location are subject to change.
For more information on the PBCPD and the Walker proposal, visit www.pacificbeachparkingorg.