Some Parking Meter Money
Will Return to the Palisades
About 15 percent of revenue generated by parking meters in the Pacific Palisades Business District will be returned to the BID (Palisades Business Improvement District).
In a February 7 news blast, Councilman Mike Bonin said: “I am very happy to report that Pacific Palisades will be one of three areas where this pilot program will be launched, meaning that a minimum of $50,000–and likely more–will be available for the Pacific Palisades BID to spend on local mobility improvements, like street and sidewalk repairs, wayfinding signage, or on streetscape and community beautification efforts.
“The BID, which is made up of local businesses, will be responsible for engaging local stakeholders to decide which local improvements are best for Pacific Palisades,” Bonin said. The motion was approved by City Council on February 5.
The Palisades Business District is located from the Ralphs parking lot on the east, along Sunset past Gelson’s to the west. To the north, it includes Caruso’s Palisades Village and to the south it extends to Bowdoin Street and La Cruz. (visit: palisadesbid.org/about-us.html for the exact boundaries.)
Bonin spokesperson David Graham-Caso was asked if the program also included Pacific Palisades parking meters near Vons on Sunset, in Santa Monica Canyon, in the Marquez Business District or in front of the library and Corpus Christi.
“This would only be for meters in the Palisades Business District,” Graham-Caso responded in a February 7 email to Circling the News.
The other meters in town are located outside of the BID.
The recommendation for returning a portion of parking meter money came from a Los Angeles Department of Transportation report which stated, “Other cities which have implemented parking meter revenue sharing programs have seen an increase in sales tax revenue, improved public safety, and overall aesthetic improvements in the participating areas. An ancillary benefit of the program was to incentivize the deployment of the parking meters as a tool to manage parking in high demand areas.”
The two other areas participating in the pilot program are Lincoln Heights and Westwood Village. After 180 days, a progress report on the program is to go back to the Transportation Committee (chaired by Mike Bonin).
According to LADOT, this program will not impact the General Fund, because the pilot program is funded through an appropriation in the Special Parking Revenue Fund budget in fiscal year 2018.
I’d love to see the BID use the money to fix the intersection at Chautauqua and PCH. I know it’s not part of the BID but it is a “gateway” to our town and a daily frustration.