Proposed changes to downtown parking rates drew sharp debate during a Downtown Santa Monica, Inc. (DTSM) board meeting last week, where city staff and consultants outlined a plan to simplify the pricing structure and raise revenue, while business leaders raised concerns about affordability, access and long-term revitalization.
The presentation, led by city Parking Manager Zach Pollard and representatives from Walker Consultants, revealed several restructuring scenarios that would eliminate the longstanding 90-minute free parking period in favor of flat rates. Under the proposal, weekday visitors would pay $2 for up to three hours, while weekend visitors would pay $3 for the same period. Longer stays would also become cheaper under the model, with the daily maximum reduced from $20 to $16.
Pollard said the proposed changes were developed in response to Santa Monica City Council direction, which emphasized increased revenue as a core goal. “This isn’t something we just pulled out of a hat,” Pollard said. “We’re doing this at the direction of the council and we’re at the very beginning of the outreach process.”
The rate adjustment is part of a broader citywide parking study that also includes on-street meters and beach lots. According to city officials, Santa Monica has not adjusted its parking structure rates since 2018, despite rising costs for maintenance, staffing and operations.
Steffen Turoff, a principal at Walker Consultants, said the current rate structure is too granular and outdated. “I’ve been here a hundred times and I still stop at the entrance to figure out the rates,” Turoff said. “It’s a half-hour free, then $2, then $1.50, then it changes on weekends. We want to simplify that.”
Walker Consultants reviewed data from every parking transaction in the city, comparing Santa Monica’s current rates with those in cities such as Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Culver City and Newport Beach. According to the data, 47 percent of downtown parkers leave within 90 minutes.
Turoff said the 90-minute grace period may be encouraging brief stays, limiting dwell time and undermining downtown businesses. “If you think free parking draws people in the short term, maybe cheaper parking draws them in the longer term,” Turoff said, adding, “This is about economic vitality. We want people to stay.”
But several DTSM board members and local business owners pushed back, arguing that the free grace period was essential to attracting visitors during a time of declining foot traffic and increasing vacancies.
Board member Luke Cain said businesses are already struggling and eliminating the 90-minute window could hurt efforts to bring people downtown.
“We need to increase our dwell time,” Cain said. “If people can’t park on the pier anymore and they have to park around the Promenade, why would we raise the rates? We’re not the Grove. We’re not Beverly Hills. We’re in a different situation.”
The idea of offering three hours of free parking instead was also discussed, the theory being that longer stays could generate more sales tax revenue and encourage broader economic activity.
Others raised concerns about employee parking, arguing that current monthly rates, which run $220 in structures closest to the Promenade, are too expensive for low-wage workers. Some employees, they noted, resort to moving their cars every 90 minutes to avoid charges. Pollard acknowledged the issue and said employees can access discounted validations for $6 to $9 per day or use cheaper permits at the Main Library lot for around $154 per month.
Eric Sedman, Treasurer of DTSM, suggested the city consider implementing a “first entry” rule similar to Beverly Hills, which offers one free parking period per day per vehicle. This approach, paired with license plate recognition technology, could reduce abuse of the system while still offering flexibility to legitimate visitors, he said.
“You might find out you have a lot fewer unique visitors and a lot more employees moving their cars multiple times per shift,” Sedman said. “There’s revenue being lost, but also a lot of queuing and friction from that behavior.”
City staff said they are already testing license plate recognition (LPR) technology in some garages and plan to expand it further. They also acknowledged revenue leakage from “gate running” – when parkers bypass or force open exit gates – and said LPR and gate alert systems have already cut related losses by as much as 50 percent in some locations.
In addition to the weekday and weekend flat rates, staff floated the possibility of evening flat rates after 5 or 6pm, similar to systems used in Pasadena and other cities. Several board members supported the idea, noting that evening visitors are more likely to be dining or attending shows and should be offered incentives to stay longer.
Chris Gorbos, General Manager of the Westside Comedy Theater, spoke passionately during public input, saying that 80 to 85 percent of his customers come from outside Santa Monica and spend two to three hours downtown on average.
“These are not people taking the bus,” Gorbos said. “They are driving here and they’re staying for hours. We need to lower the barriers, not raise them.”
While the presentation emphasized the goal of raising an additional $9 million in annual revenue citywide, stakeholders pressed for more detailed modeling to understand how different pricing scenarios would impact business recovery, employee parking and overall visitation patterns.
Board member Lucian Tudor called for a detailed breakdown of how much revenue is currently generated by different time blocks, such as first-hour visitors versus daily maximums, and what impact each proposed change would have.
“We need to see the numbers,” Tudor said. “If we’re losing $2 from the 47 percent who won’t pay it, but gaining more from everyone else who stays longer, then show us that.”
Pollard and Turoff acknowledged the request and said data would be shared with the board at a future meeting. Santa Monica’s parking structures are located within the state’s coastal zone, meaning that any pricing changes will also require approval from the California Coastal Commission. That process could extend into late 2026, giving the city and stakeholders time to continue discussions.
An informal recommendation was passed by the DTSM board, requesting that the city consider maintaining or extending the grace period to three hours, implementing evening flat rates, lowering the cost of employee parking and enhancing enforcement of SP+, the city’s parking operations contractor. The motion passed narrowly, with six board members in favor and five opposed.
While no final decisions have been made, city staff stressed that the current process is intended to be collaborative and data-driven.
“We understand the emotions around this,” Pollard said. “This is just the first step in a multi-month outreach effort.”
Walker Consultants will return with updated data and scenarios after incorporating feedback from the board and other stakeholders. Any final recommendations must be approved by the City Council and then reviewed by the Coastal Commission before implementation.
