The downtown area has sufficient parking spaces, but pricing policies leave some structures crowded while hundreds of spaces remain empty, according to a study presented to the City Council of Culver City Monday night.
The Cardiff and Watseka parking structures fill about 40% of the parking demand but contain only about one-quarter of the nearly 2,800 spaces downtown, according to a study conducted by Walker Parking Consultants.
The study concluded that the city’s goal should be to redistribute the parking evenly. Long-term use, such as that by area employees who tend to arrive early and stay long hours, should be in peripheral locations, while the most convenient spots should be left for shoppers, diners and visitors. Currently all spaces, whether central or remote, charge the same rate, prompting all motorists to seek the most convenient spaces.
Inexpensive parking is largely responsible for downtown’s congestion problem, according to the study. Relative to surrounding communities, Culver City charges low parking fees. The daily rate of $8 requires no hike, but the $1-per-hour meter fee should be upped by 50 cents to encourage turnover and increase the availability of street parking, the study concluded. In addition, a $1-per-hour fee at the Cardiff and Watseka structures and a $.50-per-hour charge at the Ince structure were suggested.
One fear expressed by multiple speakers is that price hikes might be detrimental to local businesses by scaring off potential visitors, particularly those who might simply choose to come downtown for an ice cream cone. A $2 parking tab on top of $4 of ice cream might act as a deterrent to would-be ice cream eaters.
At the heart of a successful strategy, consensus appears, is enforcement. A PowerPoint presentation by concerned citizen Cary Anderson ostensibly showed the inefficiency of Culver City police in managing the city’s parking debacle. Violations, he told the council, are rampant, tickets scarce.
One positive note, the study determined, is that the city need not build any new structures. Another silver lining is that despite parking hassles, there is still demand.
The short-term fixes to the problem may be as relatively simple as price differentials and parking enforcement, but the long-term solution appears to involve a philosophically different approach.
“That sort of thinking has to stop,” said Vice-Mayor Micheal O’Leary in reference to California’s supposed car culture. “We are not a car culture in the future,” he said.
“Right now we’re changing a culture, a way of thinking,” he added.
The 109-page study is available at www.culvercity.org/Articles/~/media/Files/Articles/2010/WalkerReportJune152010.ashx.
