> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Downtown parking rates, spaces to increase - URL: https://www.smdp.com/downtown-parking-rates-spaces-to-increase/ - Published: 2002-04-11T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T00:14:08.000Z - Author: Andrew Fixmer - Tags: Business, Downtown, #archive-import *$92.5M parking plan gets OK from Santa Monica City Council* There will be more parking downtown, but it’s going to cost you. Residents and visitors will likely get hit with a parking fee increase so the city can build nearly 2,000 new spaces downtown for $92.5 million. The city council voted unanimously Tuesday to approve 1,772 new spaces over the next 10 years, mostly through remodeling existing parking garages and building a few new ones. To avoid the city footing the bill, parking rates and taxes paid by downtown businesses will likely be raised. While $85.5 million will be used from the 1994 Northridge earthquake relief fund, $6.7 million is still needed to complete the entire project. A monthly parking spot will increase from $75 to $105 a month, and while the city would maintain the two hour free parking policy at all public garages, the rate after that could increase to $1.25 for each additional 20 minutes — with a $10 maximum charge. Parking in a garage close to the Third Street Promenade on the weekends could cost a flat rate of $6, while parking farther away would be a $4 flat rate. Currently, after the first two hours it costs $1 for each additional 30 minutes up to a $7 maximum charge. After 6 p.m. is a $3 flat rate. Annual taxes that downtown businesses pay to the city would be increased, and the number of businesses required to pay the tax would be expanded from Wilshire Boulevard to Colorado Boulevard and from Sixth Street to Ocean Avenue. The city also has collected $2.5 million earmarked for parking projects through taxes on developers. Some council members think building more parking will only make traffic worse on downtown streets. “If I had a problem with too many iron filings, I wouldn’t suggest building a larger magnet,” said Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown, who voted for the project despite his concerns. City staff members will study the economic, environmental and traffic impacts that the project will have. The study could take up to a prepare. The city council must approve the report before the project is constructed. Plans currently call for the “short” parking structures to be demolished, most of which are along Fourth Street and contain about 300 spaces each. They will be replaced with garages that have more than 700 spaces and retail stores at the street level. The three “tall” parking decks, two of which are on Second Street and the other on Fourth Street, will be remodeled to increase the current 600 spaces to more than 700. Two parking garages, which will occupy 500 spaces, will be built along Fifth Street. A small shuttle bus will run between all of the parking decks and various downtown attractions, including the Third Street Promenade and the Santa Monica Pier. Officials hope the bus system, which is projected to cost $1 million annually, will get people to keep their vehicles in one place the whole day. While the larger parking decks are under construction, people will be asked to use surface parking lots by the beach. Pier Restoration Corporation board members appeared at the council meeting to ask that a second ramp be constructed. They said the ramp would cost $2 million, but it would allow vehicles to access the beach parking lot with 750 spaces that are used only during the summer months. “The new ramp would give people an intuitively sensible route to pier parking,” said pier board member Ellen Brennan. Council members did not respond to the PRC’s request. *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 11, 2002.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/041102.pdf?ref=smdp.com)