News - Local - South County

Sunday, Jun. 22, 2008

Kiosk yields exceed expectations

Parking proceeds outpacing projections, city says; dispute over placement of four kiosks unresolved

Comments (0) |

Three months after launching its paid-parking program, the city of Pismo Beach has collected nearly $100,000 from its parking kiosks and from citations, according to staff reports, and officials say the program may end up being more successful than anticipated.

The city’s dispute with the California Coastal Commission over the placement of four of those kiosks remains at a standstill, meanwhile, with neither side taking action to resolve the issue.

Revenues from the paid-parking program are ahead of budget projections, according to Randy Bloom, the city’s community development director. Parking kiosks have collected more than $86,000 as of June 9, according to staff reports. In addition, about $10,000 more has been collected from parking citations.

City officials had originally anticipated that the meters would collect an average of $1,000 per day with the majority of funds collected during the weekend. But that average took into account a bump in revenue during the city’s busier summer months.

The city already pulled in about $1,000 per day during lower tourism periods, and officials say the numbers are likely to rise now that summer has started.

“This is our season. It just started and will continue through September,” said parking supervisor Mark Coppes.

Drivers pay $1 an hour for the pier lot and the 100 and 200 blocks of Hinds and Pomeroy avenues and 75

cents for the outlying areas of the city. Those who fail to pay are cited with a $40 ticket.

Revenue from citations could increase, too; part-time parking enforcement officers have been trying to help educate the public about the meters before issuing citations. When they were first installed, some drivers claimed not to have noticed the meters.

Bloom said of ficials are making improvements such as installing clearer signs so drivers see the kiosks and understand how to use them correctly. They are also considering ways to provide discounted parking to local residents.

While the paid-parking program is working out financially for the city, there has been concern that the California Coastal Commission will move forward with its threat to sue the city over the location of four of the kiosks.

Earlier this year, the commission threatened to fine the city $15,000 a day for failing to obtain the correct permit for kiosks placed in the commission’s jurisdiction.

City officials said they had the permit to allow for work.

“We sent them a letter in February but never heard back,” said Nancy Cave, enforcement director for the commission. “The situation remains unresolved.”

Mayor Maryann Reiss has said that the city has done nothing wrong and that nearly all coastal communities have paid parking.

Cave said the commission would like to resolve the dispute with Pismo Beach without taking any formal action. However, a solution is currently not high on their priority list.

“We have over 1,000 open violations in our system that are pending,” Cave said. “We have to prioritize them and don’t have (Pismo) scheduled for action at this time.”