By David Zahniser : Los Angeles Times – excerpt
Business owners in both neighborhoods lobbied City Hall, arguing that the meters and parking rate hikes have cut into their sales and cost jobs. Some of the meters will be used elsewhere in L.A.
City Hall has been squeezing every penny out of Los Angeles motorists in recent years, approving hundreds of new parking meters and repeatedly jacking up parking fines.
But one corner of Los Angeles has managed to buck the tide, convincing the City Council not just to remove hundreds of meters but to reduce rates by up to half on the machines that remain.
On Monday, San Pedro civic leaders conducted a ceremonial parking meter beheading to celebrate an extraordinary victory: the removal of 645 parking meters in their community and nearby Wilmington….
The protests quickly reached then-Harbor area Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who has since been elected to Congress. Parking meters became an issue in the election this year to replace her, with the top candidates pledging to address merchant complaints…
The area’s new councilman, Joe Buscaino, has worked to eliminate hundreds of less frequently used meters on the outskirts of the San Pedro and Wilmington business districts. The city would lose only $45,000 per year by dumping the meters, once reduced maintenance costs are considered, he argued…
Buscaino’s initiative also cut the rates of the remaining meters in downtown San Pedro from one dollar to 75 cents an hour in some places and 50 cents in others. Parking also will be free in two city-owned lots, and the amount of time shoppers and others can leave vehicles at metered spaces will be doubled, from one hour to two…
The Harbor area retreat on parking meters and fees comes just weeks after council members voted to hike parking fines for the sixth time in seven years. And though San Pedro and Wilmington will be losing meters, other neighborhoods will be getting more…
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This goes to prove that the meters are not for everyone, but some businesses want them. No one size fits all approach works. ENUF seeks to protect the citizen’s rights to decide what they need.
Meter Madness 