Tag Archives: Parking

Meters To Feat, Part II

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Now before anyone says anything about the view being uglified, the parked Winnebagos will hide all the meters.

Feet To Meters

Parking meters could dot the coastline in the future along Ocean View Boulevard in Pacific Grove.

Last week’s review of cost-cutting and revenue-raising measures by the Pacific Grove City Council omitted adding more parking meters as a means of making money, but the council instructed its staff to prepare the groundwork for permits from the state’s Coastal Commission.

James Becklenberg, city director of management and budget, suggested in December that Pacific Grove could reap an additional $495,000 by installing parking meters on Central Avenue, Ocean View Boulevard, Lovers Point and city parking lots in the downtown area.

 

Meters To Feat, Part II

Meters To Feat

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Moe – you can drive the shoppers away, but the owners and employees will still be there, taking up all the choice parking. Get busy and woo some commerce to the town that people will flock to meters or no meters.

1/8/08, Town Hall meeting agenda

James Becklenberg, city director of management and budget, said the budget needs to be pared by $2.6 million to keep the city solvent. Its financial reserves in December were down to $800,000, and the city should maintain a reserve of $2.6 million to cover emergencies.

Becklenberg has proposed expanding parking meters on Central Avenue, Ocean View Boulevard, Lovers Point and city parking lots in the downtown area, reaping an estimated $495,000 in extra revenue, and discontinuing the annual card rate at the golf course, which Becklenberg said would add $40,000 this fiscal year and $190,000 during the 2008-09 fiscal year. He also suggested increasing permit and planning fees.

But the Chamber-Of_Moe begs:

At 6 p.m. on Jan. 23, the Pacific Grove City Council will consider installation of parking meters or pay stations downtown and on Central Avenue. Meters increase the cost of doing business, create an inconvenience to shoppers and drive customers to free parking destinations. More important, meters affect adjacent residential neighborhoods and change the character of the town. Small businesses have to compete with the big-box operations, corporate shopping centers and the Internet, where there are no obstacles such as meters.

No Meters

Meters To Feat

Oh, Where Does The Axe Fall?

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Closing the city’s library and museum, trimming office hours and cutting police, fire and public works positions are among the hard financial choices before the Pacific Grove City Council.

The council will meet Wednesday to begin discussing how to balance its budget in the coming year.

“Now we’re at crunch time,” said Mayor Dan Cort.

· Eliminating general fund support for the city library and Museum of Natural History, which would save $250,000 for the remainder of this fiscal year and $1.2 million in fiscal 2008-09. Museum donations have fallen to an estimated $5,000, down from a projected $60,000. Library programs brought in about $39,000 in fees, purchases, fines and other revenue.

· Closing City Hall on alternate Fridays, with a 10 percent employee pay cut, saving $85,000 this fiscal year and $350,000 next fiscal year.

· Reducing fire service, with three options ranging from annual cutbacks of $95,000 to $245,000.

· Reducing police service, with three options ranging from annual cutbacks of $97,000 to $353,000.

· Reducing the public works staff, with three options ranging from annual cutbacks of $122,000 to $410,000.

· Continuing to defer maintenance of city streets and facilities, responding only to immediately needed repairs; and reducing the frequency of parks mowing, trimming and similar work.

· Eliminating salaries for City Council members, saving $10,000 this fiscal year and $39,000 next year.

· Cutting managerial and staff positions in other departments.

Making all the cuts would reduce the city’s costs by $3.1 million.

Here’s a few ideas:
The city can sell bumper stickers “Don’t Blame Me, I Voted Yes”.
Axe funding for the Chamber’Ocommerce. Make them earn their funding and see if they work harder. Last TV pitch I heard from them was for a travel agency and a web advertising firm. Like that REALLY draws commerce to PG.
That tourist center $100K? Forget it.
Go back and re-visit the property transfer tax – hit the very turkeys that have helped ruin the family setting of the town.
Charge for ‘sign permits’ – $100 a month for open houses and other sidewalk graffiti.
Charge businesses that use the sidewalks as extensions of the store. That’s public property they are serving meals on . . .
Farm out parking enforcement to Monterey. They take no prisoners (or abandoned VWs).
Trim the brass at the PD and FD. Put more in uniform and on the street. Or think about joining forces with the peninsula.
Sewers? Charge the businesses that burden in the system more than the residents.

Oh, Where Does The Axe Fall?

Parking Time Limits Lowered – Bulletin Opposes

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PGbull Header

The City Council unanimously rejected installation of parking meters on Central Avenue; but not before laying the groundwork for what may be future problems including more budget challenges.

As an alternative to the lost meter revenue, Councilperson Scott Miller suggested changing the parking sign time limit from two hours to ninety minutes, saying “our parking enforcement guy made a killing down there. He would write 64 tickets a day and many of them from there” (Scott Miller was speaking as to the time he was Chief of Police). Wasn’t the two hour limit for parking on Central Avenue imposed to allow ample time for people to have a meal and do some leisurely shopping without fear of citation?

That was the intention of the two hour limits – however it looks like businesses take up a majority of two hour spots, leaving a precious few for those “leisurely shoppers”

Parking Favaloro Truck
Parking Victorian Corner Chevy 080501 Parking Victorian Corner Ho

Parking Oh Flowers Van 1
Parking Favaloro Suburban

Parking Grand Ave Art Works
Parking Hazara (2)

Parking Comptuer Help

?

Parking Favaloro Mits

Parking Time Limits Lowered – Bulletin Opposes

Parking Meters On Hold In P.G?

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At the July 18 city council meeting many people spoke opposing putting parking meters at Lovers Point or Central/Eardley Avenues. A merchant pointed out that the current 2 hour parking spaces are not checked by the parking enforcement officers and that rolling the spaces back to 90 minutes and adding more enforcement would be better to turn over parking and increase ticket revenue. Great idea . . though many of the downtown merchants that take up spaces all day will need to be more active to avoid tickets.

Parking Victorian Corner Ho Parking Favaloro Truck

Parking Meters On Hold In PG?

S.F. Police Rake In Parking Ticket Fees

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Catching parking scofflaws in San Francisco has become easier with the help of high-tech cameras that scan license plates in search of cars saddled with unpaid citations.

A city parking crew operating the new system can almost instantaneously find cars with at least five outstanding tickets. A two-person team roams city streets with two small cameras mounted atop their unmarked vehicle. The cameras can scan 250 or more plates an hour.

And when a match is made, the crew attaches a yellow metal boot to the front wheel, removing it only after the tickets are paid.

Parking Favaloro Truck

Aint that cool? Could get more $$ from the merchants that park all day in 2 hour spots.

SF Police Rake In Parking Ticket Fees

The Parking Meters May Multiply

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The idea is controversial in a town that prides itself on being “America’s Last Hometown.”

Those opposed to adding parking meters downtown, at Lovers Point and along parts of Central Avenue said it will take away from the city’s charm. “I don’t want it in the downtown area. It would lose all its ambiance,” store owner Dee Moore said.Others said they worry shoppers won’t want to pay for parking in front of downtown shops.

 

Parking Meters Sensor Loop

The so called ambiance was lost long ago, chopped up, sold, painted over and resold. It was replaced by by phony charm that requires sandwich board signs to direct you to the merchandise you just cannot live without. Bah! Anything worth spending money on should stand on it’s own.

For one, the meters may increase the the number of spaces available as cheap merchants quit parking their cars all day long in prime spacesVictorian Corner Ho
Though I think we would need 3000 meters to make $6,000,000. There’s reportedly 100 meters by the ATC that bring in $1,800 per year per meter.

The Parking Meters May Multiply

Business Group Requests Unlimited Parking

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Minutes of the Traffic Commission – November 14, 2006

One of the concerns was that employees would take advantage of the no enforcement policy and park their vehicles in front of the establishments where they are employed.
Commission encourages the BID group to . . come back to us next July or August with a plan to implement the extended parking for shoppers and indicate they are going to control employee parking.

Nothing new here – there appears to be little or no enforcement of the 2 hour limits already. Numerous commercial vehicles and personal cars from store owners and workers park all day with no need to move.

Hazaras parks it’s van around Lighthouse and Forest all day.

Parking Hazara-20min

Victorian Corner workers take up so many parking places and the loading zone all day . . .

Parking Victorian Corner Cars

That delivery trucks cannot even use the “loading zone” set aside for the purpose and spill over to red zones and crosswalks

Crosswalk Awareness Month Vc2
Business Group Requests Unlimited Parking

Business Slow? Blame The Parked Cars

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From the Minutes of the Traffic Commission – November 14, 2006

A group of students from Monterey Peninsula College are developing a marketing plan for four (4) businesses on the west side of Grand Avenue between Lighthouse Ave. and Central Ave. They have observed large vehicles parking all day long in front of these establishments which blocks sight distance to the businesses. Passing vehicles on Grand Avenue have difficulty seeing the stores because of parked vehicles.

Large vehicles parked all day? So the two hour limit is not enforced there either.
So one idea is to extend your store signage to the street, just like Ariana Cafe once did.Parking Art Works

Or get the city to make the spaces in front of your business ‘loading zones’. Works for Victorian Corner.
Parking Victorian Corner Chevy 080501
Or join the sandwich board club.

Sidewalk Sign Bijouterie

Is it the parked cars? No I think these kinds of shops belong in Carmel anyway. Business success means selling an item or service that people want. Do people come to PG for the Carmel experience?

Business Slow? Blame The Parked Cars