Southern California beach city to increase parking fees in beach lots and across the city: its just not worth it
Visitors to one of the most gorgeous Southern California beach towns will soon be paying a whole lot more in order to park so they can hit the sand — a move that’s already making some real waves with residents.The city council of Manhattan Beach recently approved changes to the parking fee structure, increasing how much people pay to park and the citations fees for breaking the rules, per the city website.Once the changes take effect on August 1, it is estimated the new fees and fines could bring in an extra $1 million in revenue in fiscal year 2027 to the city, per Manhattan Beach News.Some of the changes include curbside parking in the downtown are increasing from $2.50 to $4.00 an hour, in the city’s busiest time between May and August.
The rest of the year it will cost $3.50 an hour.For those that want to park closer to the beach, El Porto, Bruce’s Beach, and Upper and Lower Pier lots, are going from $3.50 to $4 an hour during the summer months, while remaining at $3.50 the rest of the year.Other parking spots in the city increased from $2.50 to $3.00 an hour during those peak times for beach visitors.The city also voted to increase the amount drivers must pay for violating parking citations by $6 bucks.The average costs-to park at expired meters or red-zones-would go from $59 to $65, per the report.
Other parking violations had a similar increase across the board.Officials said the changes are necessary to deal with the increase in demand for parking and “fund critical infrastructure needs, including the replacement of aging parking lots,” per the city website.Council members also had the chance to vote whether the rates would “increase gradually over five years, with an annual adjustment of 10%.”However, they ultimately voted against “automatic annual increases” and instead voted to “review rates periodically,” per the report.The city’s redevelopment parking plan also includes an upgrade to the current parking system, ditching parki...