REVIEW OF POLICY FOR PARKING VIOLATIONS

RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended the City Council review the Parking Enforcement Policy currently in effect for issuing parking violations and make any changes deemed appropriate.

BACKGROUND:

Historically, parking in the City of Hermosa Beach has always been a major challenge to our citizens and visitors. In the Nineties, parking enforcement personnel moved toward a more gentler and kinder enforcement policy. We are no longer the ticket capital of Los Angeles County. That distinction is now heralded in the press and on television as belonging to the cities of Pasadena, West Hollywood and Santa Monica. In 1998, 57,540 parking violations were issued of which a small percentage, 4% or 2,200, were actually contested to the Administrative Hearing Officer. Citizen complaints received about aggressive enforcement have also dropped dramatically over the past several years. Two or three citizen complaints is the average received a month.

ANALYSIS:

Overall, the personnel in Community Services do an exceptionally good job in regulating and enhancing parking in our community under sometimes difficult circumstances. There are the exceptions that test both the metal of our citizens, the Council Members and City staff. Each citizen complaint is looked into and corrective action is taken. It may be a dismissal of the citation and return of the fine, if paid, a finding the citation was properly issued or bring forward an issue requiring a review of existing policy.

The latest issue requiring the need to balance community interest, and what some consider regulatory zeal, is the issue of double ticketing. Double ticketing meaning two parking violation issues within he same time period for any two or three hour metered and posted sign violations.

Community Services Officers do issue citations for separate violations of expired meters and time limit posted stalls at the same time. It must be understood that these are two different violations.

The City does require that a parking meter in a commercial zone be fed during the hours of enforcement while the space is occupied. Vehicles must vacate the stall after the two or three-hour limit. This requirement is in place so that there will be a turnover of available parking stalls to accommodate business owners in the commercial zones. Parking stall turnover is of great concern to our local business owners. It is the practice of Community Services Officers to mark the tire of each vehicle parked at these meters. They then return after the allotted time and issue a citation if the vehicle has not vacated the stall. This separate citation is still issued even if there is time on the meter. Also, if the meter is expired and the vehicle has been parked over the allotted time, one citation for each separate violation is issued. Currently, the technology of the handheld electronic ticketwriters does not allow us to enter two violations on one actual ticket. Prior to the ticketwriter, multiple violations were commonly handwritten on the same citation.

The issue is not as simple as getting one ticket and then being free and clear from additional tickets. If so, then you would park there all day.

A sampling of two months in 1998 for expired meter and time limit meter stall reveals that 97 citations were written, 21 were issued at the same time in October. In July 1998, 88 citations were written, 29 were issued at the same time. The remaining citations were written at different hourly intervals. The fine for each violation is $20.

ALTERNATIVES:

1. No change to existing practice and policy.

2. Add or delete to existing policy.

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