Motorists stopping in Belmont Shore next year may have to feed parking meters earlier in the morning and later into the night.
Under the proposed changes, hours at 127 meters along Second Street and auxiliary roads would extend as early as 8 a.m. and no later than 10 p.m. Mondays through Sundays. Current hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The item, discussed Thursday at the Belmont Shore Parking and Business Improvement Area Commission, was tabled following back-and-forth between commissioners and the public, but it will be revisited in January, Commission Chair Matthew Peterson said. The delay allows more discussion and time for the city to release the district’s end-of-year revenue report for 2023.
Expanding parking meter hours could net the city up to an additional $1 million annually, nearly doubling the business district’s $1.2 million budget.
This would generate much-needed revenue, Peterson said.
But these estimates are drawn if the meter is occupied at least 60% of the time.
Other scenarios were offered where hours were extended one or two hours in the morning and night, though they would yield significantly less revenue. The third, and most lenient choice, would bring in just $436,579 a year, officials said.
Commissioners were far more interested in extending hours at night as opposed to the morning, saying the evening crowd is composed of more tourists and crosstown travelers coming in for dinner or drinks.
Officials said the change would translate into cash, which will pay for security, maintenance and cleanup crews in Belmont Shore. Parking revenue pays for the commission’s contracts with groups like the Conservation Corps of Long Beach, which removed more than 1,300 bags of trash in the month of October alone.
And costs are “rising across the spectrum,” Peterson said.
“If we do not increase revenues, we’re going to have to offset other services that we provide,” he added.
The corps said Thursday that they are not in the running for the city’s contract to clean the neighborhood. Following their latest six-month extension, they will terminate their services in that area.
The idea to expand metered hours comes as the commission has asked the City Council to raise rates by a quarter to $2.00 an hour. The new price would make the Second Street strip the second costliest in Long Beach, behind only the Pike Outlet and adjacent garages near the city’s waterfront. City staff did not answer questions about when the council might take up the issue.
Compared with other cities, Peterson said, the beachfront community has among the shortest meter hours. In places like Santa Monica and Hermosa Beach, beachfront meters operate until 2 a.m. and charge $2 to $6 an hour.
But some residents said the meters create a nuisance for locals, as tourists and date night travelers eager to avoid feeding into the civic piggybanks frequently park on side streets. In homes built on post-war tracts, residents griped their garages were made for Model T’s, not modern automobiles. Some said they’ve made it a routine of sliding into a metered spot when they get home from work, only to find parking elsewhere after an hour or so.
“Belmont Shore has always been parking impacted,” said resident Melinda Cotton. “And there’s always been additional pressure coming year after year from additional bars, restaurants open late. So the parking impacts on the residential community keep increasing and increasing. With the increase in rates on the meters, people are more (likely) to want to park where they can park for free. … It’s everybody’s tradition that you go for free parking if you possibly can.”