WeHo City Council OKs Extended Meter Hours

Local residents, tourists and nightclub employees alike will wave goodbye to free parking this summer, as the West Hollywood City Council on Monday evening voted in favor of extending parking meter hours throughout town.

After a presentation by Mott Smith of Civic Enterprise Associates and a lengthy public hearing, the board voted 4-1 in favor of approving the controversial proposal to unclog the city's parking inventory by extending parking meter hours along major thoroughfares and side-streets.

Through the plan, the hours of all parking meters between La Cienega Boulevard and Doheny Drive will be extended to 8 a.m. until midnight on Monday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Sunday. The hours of operation for meters along La Cienega Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue would be extended to 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday.

(A full breakdown of the new parking meter hours can be viewed in the staff report above.)

The city's stated goal for the plan is to increase parking turnover and to encourage motorists to use off-street structures for long-term parking.

"Extending parking meter hours will help move more long-term parkers into appropriate spaces in parking structures and lots and keep meters in key locations open for local business customers," the city stated in a press release in January.

The extended hours will commence no earlier than July 1.

The major bone of contention for the plan's opponents was the potential inconvenience to employees of establishments along Santa Monica Boulevard, who take advantage of the free on-street parking after 8 p.m.

Many of those opponents said the city's plan to provide a $30 evening parking pass valid at designated meters in the vicinity of San Vicente and Beverly Boulevards, as well as at select off-street parking garages, was meager compensation for the loss of free parking near to their workplaces.

"This is West Hollywood, we enjoy our free parking," said former city council candidate Lucas John, during a feisty and profanity-punctuated public comment. "What's right for Boystown isn't right for Westside Residents Association.

"They're happy that we're not going to be able to park in their area, and that no partygoers are going to have a chance, because they're going to have to keep going back. The residents here, the bartenders, the people who work at Micky's? Some of us have to use that parking at 6 p.m."

Another former city council candidate, Sam Borelli, offered a measured critique of the proposal.

Borelli said that though the new regulations may not present a hardship
for employees of establishments near the designated parking meters, those working at spots such as Micky's or Gym Sports Bar would be faced with a much longer walk back to their vehicles during the early morning hours.

"It's about the person who works at Gym Bar or Micky's, and they're barbacking, and they're not making as much money and they're only working two nights a week. They're now going to have to walk back to an employee space on West Knoll and Melrose at 3 a.m., wearing their Micky's shirt and their tips stuffed in their pockets," he said. "There is crime happening in and around our city, and employees walking further way from lit areas and a lot of the public is really scary."

Smith consented that there was no "one size fits all" solution to the employee parking quandary, and that the city would need to be open to negotiating with owners of large parking facilities, such as Pavilions, to meet the needs of the city's bar and restaurant workers.

He added that, like on Sunset Boulevard, dedicated monies from the more than $1 million in projected parking meter revenues would in part help to pay for security patrols for the affected areas.

D'Amico, who ultimately voted against the plan, questioned the wisdom of only offering the monthly parking pass to employees of local establishments, instead of to the entire public. 

"I'm concerned that it's too restrictive," D'Amico said. "I think we're always opting away from helping people find parking easier, even if they're paying for it."

The plan was supported by some speakers, many of whom said they considered the current parking regulations untenable.

Matthew Baume, a Fuller Avenue resident, said that there was really no such thing as a free parking space, anyway.

"There is no such thing as free parking; when the meters turn off, somebody else starts paying," Baume said. "In this case it means the residents are paying when motorists are circling our streets looking for a space because there are no available meters. I run a photography business, and my clients are paying because they can't find convenient parking near me after 6 p.m. Yes, it's a bummer to put a few coins in the meter, but the benefits of having more available spaces on the block are clearly worth it. Metered parking works just fine during the day, and it doesn't stop making sense because the sun went down."

Councilman John Duran echoed those sentiments. He said the purpose of the plan was to better manage the city's limited parking supply, which is in high demand.

"What it comes down to is we're managing inventory," Duran said. "We have a limited supply of parking and a high demand. It's just macro-economics. If you have one set of T-shirts that say, 'Shop West Hollywood,' and they're selling like hotcakes, and you have another set that say 'Shop WeHo' that nobody is buying, those are the ones you'll give away for free. You're not going to give away the ones that are selling like hotcakes.

"Where there is high demand and limited supply, you let the market forces take care of it," Duran said, "and where you have an overabundance of supply, and limited demand, that's where you do freebies."