Tuesday’s decision to restrict Ninth Street comes amid a hot debate over “preferential parking zones.” Some officials say public streets shouldn’t be restricted. Others say residents deserve relief.
The decision also follows a two-yearlong crusade by local resident Christian Boyce to restrict parking on both sides of the street. Boyce said the hand-picked restrictions made his street a dumping lot.
Armed with his own research on parking trends in the neighborhood, as well as photographs and home video recordings of the snarled morning parking situation, Boyce enlisted the support of his neighbors, knocked on doors at City Hall and showered politicians and local media outlets with letters.
Boyce, who has rented his apartment on Ninth Street for more than 15 years, argued the only way to remedy the nerve-wracking parking situation was to extend the permitted parking to both sides of the thoroughfare.
“This shows what perseverance can do,”
“that you don’t have to just lay there and take it. What made them (Council) think that they could apply the rules differently here than they did anywhere else?” — Boyce remarked on Thursday
“It’s a very fair, very reasonable (parking) restriction that would work in any residential neighborhood,” said a gratified Boyce. “What we got was sensible — now every street is the same, both sides of the street are the same.”
Still, City Hall staffers resisted. They said those cars had to go somewhere, and finding a place for them was a challenge. Lucy Dyke, City Hall’s transportation planning manager, said the cars that fight for free spots on Ninth Street probably would move to streets west of Lincoln Boulevard. And because City Hall cannot introduce any more permitted parking areas there, residents would have no recourse to fight against the influx.
City Hall is barred from creating any permitted zones in that area because it’s controlled by the Coastal Commission. The Coastal Commission oversees everything west of Lincoln Boulevard that is situated south of Pico Boulevard.
In the end, members of the City Council voted 6-1 to expand the preferential parking zone. City Councilman Ken Genser said it was an untenable situation for residents — and one caused by City Hall, when the smaller preferential parking zone was implemented two years ago.
City Councilwoman Pam O’Connor voted against the zone, and while he voted for it, City Councilman Herb Katz said he was opposed to the idea of restricting any other parking areas in the future.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 26, 2004. Read the original PDF.