City sees rise in parking revenue

Laguna Beach collected $500,000 more in parking revenue this summer than last after employing strategies designed to reduce traffic and congestion downtown, city staff reported at the City Council meeting Tuesday.

In addition, trolley ridership between June 27 and Aug. 31 rose 18% over the same period last year, Deputy City Manager Ben Siegel told council members.

In January, the council authorized several steps to make parking more efficient, including adding automated pay stations in the Forest Avenue/Laguna Canyon lot, opening a lot at the Laguna College of Art + Design for free public parking and placing throughout town signs bearing a “P” to alert motorists to lots.

The strategies worked, for the most part, City Manager John Pietig said.

“Overall, the news is good,” Pietig said. “We made more money than we lost in parking revenues, and the service impacts [customer satisfaction] were favorable.”

The city boosted meter rates in 25-cent intervals and increased enforcement time to 9 p.m. from 7 p.m. to encourage drivers to park at peripheral lots — at Mission Hospital Laguna Beach, Act V in Laguna Canyon, the Pavilions/Boat Canyon lot in north Laguna and LCAD — and take a trolley into town.

The city did not issue any citations for expired meters from 7 to 9 p.m., and overall citations were down 25% from the previous summer, Siegel said.

Some lots were used more than others.

Demand for the LCAD lot’s 130 spaces exceeded expectations, Siegel reported. According to a city staff report, the lot was at capacity most Saturdays and generally two-thirds full on Sunday afternoons, and 71% of drivers who parked at LCAD went to the art festivals.

The Pavilions/Boat Canyon lot also saw an increase in parked cars from the previous summer, the report says. The 50 spaces were 75% to 85% full on weekend afternoons in summer 2014, an increase from the occasional 10 cars that occupied the lot per day in summer 2013.

Parking was down 6% at Act V’s 264 spaces compared with last summer — from 19,495 cars in 2013 to 18,345 in 2014.

Siegel attributed the decrease at Act V to drivers stopping at LCAD, which is the first lot they would see as they head toward downtown on Laguna Canyon Road. Motorists must also pay $7 to park at Act V, while parking is free at LCAD, Mission Hospital and Pavilions/Boat Canyon.

The boost in trolley ridership could stem from the increase in signs, marketing efforts and the number of vehicles in service, Siegel wrote in a follow-up email. Trolleys, which run daily throughout the summer, take people who park at peripheral lots to businesses, restaurants and the art festivals.

“I suspect residents and visitors are finding the trolleys to be a reliable, efficient and enjoyable form of transportation,” Siegel said. In March, the city will launch weekend trolley service during non-summer months.

The city also experimented with valet parking this year, but use fell far short of expectations and the city incurred a $2,000 loss, Siegel said. The city, which anticipated $50,000 in revenue from valet, paid $22,000 to lease lots at the Boys & Girls Club of Laguna Beach and U.S. Bank on Glenneyre Street while recouping slightly more than $20,000, the staff report says.

Attendants at the U.S. Bank lot parked about 250 cars per week, which is “far less than initial projections,” according to the report.

The Boys & Girls lot was open on weekends only and averaged 40 parked cars per weekend, the report says.

Valet service could be viable, the report says, if additional drop-off spots closer to the art festivals are considered.

Parking for artists should be a principal focus, Laguna Beach Alliance for the Arts representative and former Mayor Wayne Baglin told the council.

Baglin commended the city for taking steps to improve summer parking, but said the cost of parking for some artists was too steep.

“Many of them paid more than $200 per month, which they thought was a little excessive,” Baglin said. “They appreciated the lots that were available, but somehow the education didn’t work as well as what we thought it should to get them out at some of the peripheral lots.

“What [the artists] are looking for is consistent access to parking. Get them in a habit of, ‘Here is where you know you can be,’ and how much it is going to cost.”

He added that arts patrons should be given consideration as well, with parking provided close to their destinations, Baglin said.

The $500,000 revenue gain is $182,000 more than the city planned to receive for the summer period, according to the report.

Additionally, parking citations for fiscal year 2013-14 generated about $900,000, while the city paid $750,000 in staff costs, Siegel said.

Mayor Elizabeth Pearson asked about ways to lessen expenses, particularly with staffing. Pietig said the city will look into the matter.

City staff will analyze the data and create a list of recommendations for next summer for the council to consider.