Each residential address in Hermosa Beach will be allowed a single guest parking permit following approval at the Oct. 10 Hermosa Beach City Council meeting.
In the past, a “guest permit” was considered part of the city’s parking permit program as a residential parking pass or a “hang tag” that could be transferred to guests. Now, residents can get a guest permit without it being associated with a registered car.
Residents only need a proof of residence to get a guest parking tag.
That means, residents who don’t own a vehicle can still obtain a guest tag if they live in the impacted coastal and downtown zones, said Viki Copeland, the city’s finance director, in a Wednesday phone interview.
As for residents who own vehicles, said Copeland, the guest tag comes in addition to permanent stickers for each car.
For example, if resident has two vehicles, they may purchase two permits. Both permits can be permanent stickers — one for each vehicle or they can purchase one permanent sticker and one guest hang tag.
Likewise, if a resident has three vehicles, they may purchase three permits. All three permits can be permanent stickers or they can purchase two permanent stickers and one guest hang tag.
“The fourth permit, which is by application only, you have to prove that you do not have onsite parking for a fourth vehicle,” Copeland said. “Then you can buy a fourth pass, but it is still only one guest permit per resident.”
In recent months, the City Council has tackled a variety of parking issues, including extending the morning hours of more than 1,500 parking meters.
The city also limited the number of residential permits granted to three per household and increased the parking pass fees from $40 to $50. But they can apply for a fourth permit if they can prove they don’t have a garage, driveway or other off-street parking available.
The change impacts what the city calls the coastal impacted area.
The impacted area, according to the staff report, are the north and south boundaries of the city, the Strand to the west and by Loma Drive Park Avenue or Morningside Drive to east. The west side of Cypress Avenue, between 11th Street and Pier Avenue, is also impacted.
One of the challenges of the city’s residential parking permit program was the “high number of permits issued,” according to staff report.
A 2019 parking study stated that “more parking permits are issued than spaces are available and recommends revisions to the program with scaled permit prices to disincentivize the oversaturation of parking permits.”
“The Parking Study noted that some households obtain multiple permits, in some cases a greater number of permits than a reasonable household would need,” according to city staff report.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Councilmember Raymond Jackson said this led to a “broken and abused system” and added “one thing you have to remember this is public space.”
“Residents, non-residents, personal vehicles, commercial vehicles, project vehicles, buses, RVs, vehicles belonging to family members who no longer reside in Hermosa Beach, all paying well below market rate, literally pennies on the dollar for preferential parking that is limited, subsidize quite frankly, premium site public parking,” Jackson said. “(This) to the exclusion and the detriment of others, to our folks who happen to live a block or two away, who don’t enjoy the benefits that those in the impacted zone can enjoy.”
“Limiting abuse was one of our main points, but an extra benefit of that was we are trying to share the spaces that are there. They’re very limited and very precious,” added Councilmember Rob Saemann.
Hermosa Beach was first approved by the California Coastal Commission in 1984 to “establish a preferential parking permit program in conjunction with remote beach parking locations and a park and ride shuttle system,” according to city staff report.
“The preferential parking permit program was developed to discourage oversaturation of the City’s downtown and coastal parking, to provide free long-term parking at remote locations, and to allow residents within the impacted area to park beyond the one-hour time restrictions or without having to pay the meter at yellow pole/cap meters,” according to staff report.
The permits allowed parking at 24-hour meters without paying or “in one-hour residential zones without time limits for up to 72 hours.”
Residential parking permits rose from $40 per to $50 earlier this year.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the city also set $50 as the cost for a guest pass.
Saemann said he was “passionately concerned” about residents in the impacted zone.
“Those that are elderly, those who are handicapped or have caregivers that come regularly to their home they need and should be eligible for a guest pass and unencumbered guest pass that is transferable from car to car, but it should be registered to that address not to a car though,” Saemann said.
The City Council could discuss penalties for misuse of the parking passes, possibly at its Nov. 14 meeting.
Mayor Justin Massey said he was concerned about misuse or resale of the passes, but also, “misrepresentation on the application that you’re actually fully utilizing all your onsite parking before you get that fourth permit.”
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