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Parking structure rate set, parking lot fees lowered
by Robb Fulcher
The Hermosa Beach City Council on Tuesday decided that people using the new parking structure on Hermosa Avenue will pay 50 cents an hour, with a maximum of $8 per day.
The council extended that fee to cover municipal Parking Lot A behind the Bank of America Building on Pier Avenue, marking a dramatic decrease from the previous fee of $2.50 per hour in the summer and $1.50 in the winter.
Lot B, located behind the Bijou building and currently closed following construction, will be filled with 50-cent meters.
The council decided to try out a $3 flat fee after 9 p.m. for the parking structure and Lot A. The purpose is to allow the parking gates to remain open for exiting traffic, easing the problem of long lines of motorists waiting to pay to get out at the end of the evening.
In a blow to people who work downtown, the council raised the price of yearly employee parking permits from $27 to $60. The move was made in part to curb alleged abuse of the program, in which some businesses have been accused of allowing non-employees to buy the passes. The passes allow free parking at meters with yellow posts.
"The overall goal of the parking program could be to phase out [employee permits] once an alternative parking area is developed," stated a report from City Manager Steve Burrell.
Council members discussed the possibility of expanding the shuttle program that currently buses people from lots in the City Hall area to downtown. In the past city officials have said that the program cannot be expanded for downtown employees, because the lots near City Hall are full on weekdays, making it impossible to bus more people from there.
In other matters, the council decided to set up a formal citizens committee to report upon the planned expansion of LAX and over-flights above Hermosa. The move came shortly after Hermosa entrepreneur and pilot instructor Charles Fogg told the council that LAX may be sending jetliners over Hermosa using routes not yet identified by other LAX watchers. ER