City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the City Council:
1. Introduce an Ordinance amending Section 7.03.500 of the Culver City Municipal
Code (“CCMC”) to create a Downtown Parking Meter Zone (“DMZ”) and
amending Section 7.03.525 relating to parking meter violations;
2. Adopt a Resolution increasing the meter rates from $0.50 per hour to $1.00 per
hour within the DMZ;
3. Authorize a two-hour parking limit in the DMZ;
4. Authorize the installation of approximately 21 meter spaces on Lafayette Place
and provide input and direction regarding parking beneath City Hall; and
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
In November 2006, the Culver City Redevelopment Agencyconsidered a report
regarding Parking Strategy and Parking Polices for all Agency-Owned and/or
Operated Parking Facilities. As part of that report there was information presented
regarding a staff recommendation for on-street meter pricing in Downtown Culver
City that would be presented to the City Council for consideration at a later date.
Staff is now presenting the item.
Meeting Date: 11/12/2007 Item Number: A-6
AGENDA ITEM: 1) Introduction of an Ordinance Amending Section 7.03.500 of
the Culver City Municipal Code to Create a Downtown Parking Meter Zone and
Amending Section 7.03.525 Relating to Parking Meter Violations; 2) Adoption of a
Resolution Increasing the Meter Rates in the new Downtown Meter Zone; 3)
Authorization of the Installation of Twenty-One Meter Spaces on Lafayette; and 4)
Authorization of a Two-Hour Parking Limit in the Downtown Meter Zone.
Contact Person/Dept.: Christopher Evans Phone Number: (310) 253-5744
Fiscal Impact: Yes [X] No [] General Fund: Yes [X] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Public Notification: Downtown Business Association (11/07/07); Chamber of Commerce
(11/07/07); Master Notification List (11/07/07).
Department Approval:
Sol Blumenfeld (11/01/07)
City Attorney Approval:
Carol Schwab (by H. Iker) (11/07/07)
Fiscal Impact Review:
Marlee Chang (by N. Kimball)(11/21/07)
City Manager Approval:
Jerry B. Fulwood (11/21/07) City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Downtown Culver City is a growing and thriving area. The Agency has constructed
three parking structures to assist in the revitalization. In addition to the Agency-
owned and -operated parking structures, several other parking options exist in
Downtown, including long-term private surface parking lots, parking on the P-1 level
of City Hall, and short-term curbside metered parking.
In order to improve the efficiency of the parking system in Downtown, City staff is
recommending that the Council (1) create a Parking Meter Zone, (2) amend the
meter rates, (3) consider controlling parking on LaFayette Place, (4) consider limiting
continuous use of parking spaces and (5) consider discouraging meter feeding.
Meter Rate Amendment, Two Hour Time Limit and Creation of a Parking Meter Zone
The goal of the proposed meter rate increase and time limited parking is to create a
coordinated pricing system for all public parking in the Downtown Area. A
coordinated pricing system would reduce cruising for curbside parking spaces
thereby reducing traffic; it would create an incentive for long-term parkers to park in
parking structures or surface lots rather than curbside spaces; and it would free up
convenient curbside parking for short-term parkers.
There are approximately 187 curbside parking spaces in the Downtown area. These
include both metered and un-metered spaces. These spaces are generally located
in front of businesses and government offices. Because of their location they are
ideal for serving the needs of short-term parkers and customers. These convenient
spaces, however, are being utilized by long-term parkers and contributing to
Downtown traffic. This is the result of un-metered curbside parking being available
on Lafayette Place, of free parking being available beneath City Hall, and curbside
metered spaces not being priced in coordination with the rates charged at the
Downtown parking structures.
In order to implement the proposed parking strategy, staff is recommending that the
Council adopt an Ordinance (Attachment 5) amending the CCMC to create a
Downtown Meter Zone (“DMZ”) and prohibit parking in the DMZ for a period of time
exceeding the posted time limits and prohibit “meter feeding” (see amendments to §
7.03.525 as set forth in the Ordinance); and establish by Resolution (Attachment 6)
an increase in meter rates to $1.00 per hour in that new zone. Additional meters can
be installed in the DMZ (see Attachment 1) and signs posted limiting parking at
meters to two hours of continuous use, by a motion of the City Council. A civil
penalty would be imposed in the amount of $36.00 for each violation, which is the
same rate as for parking at an expired meter.
Currently, a long-term parker has an incentive to park on the street rather than a
parking structure due to it being less expensive ($4 to park curbside and $6 to park City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
in a structure for an eight hour period). To address this, staff recommends that the
current rate for metered parking in Downtown be increased from $0.50 per hour to
$1.00 per hour (resulting in an $8 charge to park curbside and $6 to park in a
structure for an eight hour period).
Staff has reviewed the meter rates for other municipalities on the west side of Los
Angeles and found that $1 per hour falls well within the average (see “Attachment
2”). Staff also found that a time limit on parking, ranging from 1 to 3 hours, is also
well within the average (see “Attachment 2”).
Although increasing the meter rate will encourage long-term parkers to park in the
Downtown parking structures, staff is recommending the City Council consider a
two-hour time limit at all Downtown parking meters to insure that curbside metered
spaces turnover at a reasonable rate.
Parking on LaFayette Place and beneath City Hall
In addition to the under-priced, non-time restricted parking available at Downtown
metered spaces, additional un-metered parking is available on LaFayette Place and
on P-1 beneath City Hall. The availability of these spaces impacts Downtown in
several ways:
1. It encourages some parkers to seek these types of spaces instead of
parking in a parking structure. This is often referred to as “cruising”, which
contributes to traffic congestion.
2. It encourages employees or long-term parkers to look for curbside parking
or park in City Hall.
3. It encourages meter feeding, which makes the curbside spaces
unavailable to those seeking short-term parking.
LaFayette Place is a north - south street to the immediate east of City Hall. Staff is
recommending that the current 21 un-metered non-residential parking spaces
located on Lafayette be metered and time restricted. The free parking on Lafayette
Place encourages long-term parkers and Downtown employees to look for parking
on Lafayette Place rather than parking in the Downtown structures. Sufficient free
parking is available on P-1 for City Hall visitors.
The first parking level beneath City Hall (P-1) contains 214 parking spaces. These
spaces are free and uncontrolled making them convenient for persons who are
conducting business in City Hall. Employees of local businesses may also be
parking on P-1 rather than in the Downtown parking structures. If abused, this usage
could affect the supply of parking for City Hall visitors.
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Public Works staff has been monitoring the usage of P-1 and has observed a minor
increase as a result of two nearby Agency owned parking lots being sold. Because
the increase has been minor, staff is not recommending changes as to how P-1 is
used. Increasing parking meter rates and adding parking meters on Lafayette Place
could increase usage of P-1 by users other than those doing business at City Hall. If
that should occur, it may be necessary to apply parking control measures in the
future. Likely measures include:
1. Attendant controlled parking. The attendant would charge parkers on non-
City business upon exit from P-1
2. Automated kiosk parking. This would be accomplished by having parkers
pull a ticket when entering P-1 and paying for the time they parked on exit.
Those on City Hall business could have their ticket validated prior to exit.
3. Automated-pay in lane. Parkers would pay using an automated system as
they left the structure. Those on City Hall business could have their tickets
validated prior to exit.
If staff observes increased usage of P-1, staff will return to the City Council with
recommendations.
Impacts on City Departments
Staff has worked closely with the Public Works and Police Departments when
preparing this report and its recommendations. The Public Works Department will be
responsible for installing and maintaining the additional meters and the Police
Department (“PD”) will be responsible for enforcing the two-hour meter parking limit
in the proposed Downtown Meter Zone.
The Public Works Department believes it will be able to address the installation and
maintenance of the additional meters with existing staff.
The PD responded that it would require three (3) additional Parking Enforcement
Officers (“PEO’s”) along with an additional three (3) vehicles to adequately enforce a
two-hour parking limit at Downtown meters. This is due to the number of staff-hours
required to enforce the time controlled spaces and the current pressure on PEO’s to
monitor the 96 areas in the City where parking limitations of various types are
posted. The PD advises that the three (3) additional PEOs would not assure
complete coverage or enforcement due to days off and emergency response
requirements. The cost for three (3) additional PEO’s is anticipated to be covered by
increased meter revenues in the Downtown resulting from the meter rate increase as
noted in the revenue analysis of this report.
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
In addition to the three (3) PEO’s requested by PD, the Public Works Department
may need an additional Parking Meter Technician to handle the additional workload
resulting from the installation of 21 new meters on Lafayette. Further analysis is
needed to determine if this will be necessary, and staff would report back with the
findings.
The Downtown Business Association
Staff met with the President and Executive Director of the Downtown Business
Association (“DBA”) as well as several members of the DBA to discuss the proposed
meter rate increase and time restrictions. They supported the goals of the meter rate
increase and time restriction predicated upon the strict enforcement of the proposed
two-hour time limit on Downtown meters. They also stated that as Downtown would
have a higher meter rate than the City as a whole, the increased revenue for meters
should be used for the improvement and maintenance of Downtown, preferably
through a revenue sharing agreement between the City and the DBA. However,
such a revenue sharing agreement is not recommended by the City Manager’s
Office.
In addition to the above concerns the DBA is worried about the availability of parking
in Downtown structures. There have been reports from monthly parkers to the DBA
that they have, on occasion, not been able to find a parking space in one of the
structures. In response to this concern City staff reviewed parking data from random
days in both February and August 2007. For the days reviewed staff did not find a
day that a structure reached capacity although, it should be assumed that Cardiff
Parking Structure will generally reach capacity between the hours of 2PM thru 7PM
during the Farmer’s Market on Tuesdays. City staff will continue to monitor the
availability of parking in all Downtown structures.
There is a finite supply of convenient curbside short-term parking. There is though,
structured parking located within a block or two of almost all Downtown businesses.
This parking is free for the first two hours. However, meter rates and P-1 are not
priced in coordination with the Downtown parking structures making the parking
structures the last choice rather than the first choice for transient parking.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
Enforcement of 2-hour Parking Ordinance
The Culver City Police Department estimates that three (3) additional Parking
Enforcement Officers would be needed to fully enforce a two-hour limit in the
Downtown Meter Zone. The yearly salary and benefit package of each Parking City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
Enforcement Officer is approximately $69,500. In addition, three (3) vehicles would
be needed at an estimated initial expense of $16,500 per vehicle plus on-going
expenses of approximately $10,000 per vehicle for maintenance and fuel and $1,700
per vehicle to be contributed to the equipment replacement fund for future
replacement of the vehicles.
Culver City Police Department
Cost Analysis
Year 1 Year 2
Number
Cost
per
PEO Total Total
PEO's 3 $69,500 $208,500 $216,900
Year 1 Year 2
Number
Cost
per
Vehicle Total Total
Vehicle 3 $16,500 $49,500 $0
Equipment Replacement 3 $1,700 $5,100 $5,100
Year 1 Year 2
Number
Cost
per
Vehicle Total Total Vehicle Fuel and
Maintenance 3 $10,000 $30,000 $30,000
Year 1 Year 2
TOTAL $293,100 $252,000
Installation of Meters on Lafayette Place
Public Works has estimated that installing 21 additional meters on Lafayette
Boulevard, installing new rate signage on existing meters, and installation of new
time signage would be $25,200. This amount includes a 20% contingency.
There are sufficient funds available in the Parking Meters/Equipment Project, CIP
No. P-376 (42100376), to fund the installation of new meter signage and 21
additional meters.
City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
An additional Parking Meter Technician would cost approximately $65,000 (salary
and benefits). Based on other areas of the Downtown area with comparable number
of meters, the additional revenue from the 21 additional meters would be
approximately $15,000 to $20,000 annually at the current rate of $0.50 per hour.
Revenue Analysis
Creating a Downtown Meter Zone and increasing the meter rate to $1.00 per hour is
estimated to increase Downtown meter revenues from a yearly total of $131,400 to a
yearly total of $244,700 (see “Attachment 3”), which results in $113,300 of new
revenue.
The CCPD estimates, based on past meter citation fine revenue of $206,000 from
6,875 meter citations issued by five (5) PEO’s, that each additional PEO would result
in approximately $41,250 from meter violations if the proposed ordinance is fully
enforced. It is estimated that combined net fines received from each additional PEO
would be $86,940 per year (which includes citations for all violations, not just meter
violations).
Culver City Police Department
Citation Revenue Analysis
Number
Total Citation
Revenue per
PEO
Total
Citation
Revenue
Additional Meter
Revenue Total
PEO's 3 $86,940 $260,820 $113,300
Total new revenue from Downtown meters and citations resulting from additional
PEO’s if the ordinance is fully enforced is estimated to be: ($260,820 + $113,300) =
$374,120. Lower levels of enforcement would result in less revenues from parking
citations.
Additionally, as people become more aware of the two hour limit and higher level of
enforcement and begin to change their parking habits, revenues from parking
citations will potentially decrease.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Downtown Meter Zone
2. West Side Fee and Hourly Limit Review
3. Meter Revenue Analysis City of Culver City, California
City Council Agenda Item Report
4. Meter Cost Analysis
5. Proposed Ordinance
6. Proposed Resolution
MOTION:
That the City Council:
1. Introduce an Ordinance amending Section 7.03.500 of the Culver City Municipal
Code to create a Downtown Meter Zone;
2. Adopt the Resolution increasing meter rates in the Downtown Meter Zone to
$1.00 per hour;
3. Authorize the installation of twenty one meters on Lafayette Place; and
4. Authorize a two-hour parking limit in the Downtown Meter Zone.