Plan proposed to increase parking, permit more outdoor dining
Merchants along Main Street want to make the street more vibrant by adding more outdoor dining and allowing merchandise to be displayed along sidewalks.
They envision a bustling corridor where shoppers can park conveniently and cheaply. Then they can hop from one eclectic store to another before cooling their heels at any number of restaurants’outdoor seating areas along the street.
The idea is to bring back parts of a plan that was conceived more than 10 years ago to make Main Street more “village-like,” said Gary Gordon, executive director of the Main Street Merchants Association.
“A lot of the things designed to make it village-like were never adopted,” Gordon said. “A couple were, but many weren’t. It’s been very uneven.”
Now the association has put forward a plan that the City Council may address at its Feb. 11 meeting. It calls for a $200 fee that would be added to a business’ annual license if the owner wanted to have outdoor seating, sidewalk signs, or put planters and merchandise on display in front of their shops.
Under the plan, business owners would simply check off a box on their business license application that would allow the exemption and tack on the $200 fee, which works out to about 55 cents a day.
Currently, businesses seeking the same exemptions have to pay $1,300 to apply for the permit. But even then, it’s not guaranteed the city will grant their request. Then if it’s approved, there’s a fee for that as well, Gordon said.
“Some outdoor dining has been allowed, but the ordinances are so tangled even those at City Hall agree that it’s confusing,” he said. “This would be an ordinance that would over-rule the previous ordinance.”
But while city officials agree there is a problem with the ordinance, they said they are unsure if rewriting the whole thing is necessary.
“There are all sorts of different issues we need to look into,” said Mayor Pro Tem Kevin McKeown. “I think within the constraints of parking and pedestrian flow, it benefits all of us to assure a vibrant indoor/outdoor mix.”
Others say the plan is a lot of spin. While some Main Street merchants have said there has been an increased crackdown on non-permitted outdoor displays, city officials say those merchants who have been fined were thoroughly warned before a ticket was ever issued.
“What I find disturbing is that the organizers have put out the message that restrictions are coming and the city is issuing all these citations,” said Councilman Ken Genser. “That’s just not the issue at all. That doesn’t represent the city’s actions at all.”
The merchants’plan also asks the city to lower all-day parking at the beach lots to $5. They want parking to be most expensive and restrictive near the pier and the residential neighborhoods, and less expensive at the beach lots and the public parking lots along Main Street, Gordon said. That way shoppers will be funneled into where parking is most abundant, he said.
City staff members have agreed to allow free parking at the beach lots on Sundays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. for shoppers heading to the farmer’s market near the California Heritage Museum.
That plan, which would require validation from the farmer’s market, should be in place by the summer, Gordon said.
“The perception that those lots are far away isn’t entirely accurate,” he said. “The northern end of the beach lot (at 2600 Barnard Way) is just as close as the two parking lots on Main Street.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 1, 2003. Read the original PDF.