PARKING STUDY BACKGROUND
The city contracted with the firm Kimley-Horn to prepare a parking study as support for the DTSP and the EIR. This study was based upon a parking survey conducted in August 2008, almost two years ago. The study shows the unrestricted parking inventory of:
| Promenade, Pierside & Plaza Almeria Structures | 1,280 |
| On Street parking – Metered | 338 |
| On Street parking – No restrictions | 309 |
| Total unrestricted parking available to the public | 1,927 |
This map of the Downtown is from the parking study. The area contained within the green boundaries is the parking inventory study area and the 1,927 unrestricted parking spots are all within this boundary. We added the red circle, to illustrate the 1/2 mile distance from the center of the Downtown (the star) as identified by the study.
The parking study did not consider the occupancy levels of the buildings nor did it adjust the parking demand levels to extrapolate parking demand for full occupancy. The buildings within the area were NOT fully occupied at the time of the study. Once fully occupied the parking demand will increase.
TYPICAL SUMMER WEEKEND
According to this study between the hours of 9 pm and 10 pm demand or cars actively seeking parking searched the streets from 9th St to the North, to 1st street to the South, past the intersections of Main & Palm and past the intersections of Frankfurt & Delaware heading East. The parking demand was approximately 1,800 cars at 9 pm. At best, this means there are 192 open parking places in the downtown and a large number of cars were already parked in the residential neighborhoods as cars searched a wider area.
Parking facilities are approximately 90% to 100% occupied on typical summer weekends and demand exceeds parking capacity during summer holidays and special events. ” Page 2 Par 3
HOLIDAY AND SPECIAL EVENTS
On a holiday or special event weekend the following hourly parking boundaries were illustrated. We added the red circle again to show the ½ mile around the downtown. The rainbow of lines illustrate just how far people are willing to walk. It shows the areas impacted by cars searching for parking each hour.
Would a residents permit parking program that covered the full ½ mile in each direction be adequate to solve the current parking problem? This study shows that people are willing to walk more than ½ a mile for parking. If the parking structures were 90% to 100% occupied, as they typically are, would this only shift the parking problem to the neighborhoods just outside of the permit parking area?
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD
If the current downtown buildings become fully occupied, where will the new visitors park?
If a new nightclub opens in Downtown Huntington Beach, where will the visitors park?
If a new developement is built under the reduced parking requirements of the new DTSP, where will the overflow park?
Why are these maps so different from the map on the flyer from the HBDRA? I’m in the 1/2 mile range but I’m NOT in the holiday or weekend parking area.
I have “909 drunks” park in front of my house EVERY weekend summer night. Has the problem grown that much in the last 2 years, or was this study always wrong?
Now I hear that a new club “The Golden 909” is going to open up. I’m sure the concerts will let out after 9:30. That will just drive more drunks into my neighborhood.
Nancy
There was actually a plan for a new parking structure that never got legs. It was proposed for the area to the South of Duke’s. Parking is not the apparent issue. I think that additional bars is the issue. No one wants more drunks in their neighborhood. What can we all do to stop the opening of another bar? This is an issue that needs to be addressed.
Andre Faubert
BOD HB Neighbors
Originally the city wanted to solve the parking problem with parking lots on the beach and under the library. We, as a community took these option away via our protest. The in-lieu fees are way too low to allow the city to BUY land and build a structure in order to elevate the parking congestion. In fact the city has continued to accept the in-lieu fees knowing full well that they are inadequate. The only way the city can build more spots with the fees they collected is to build on land they already own. What are our options?
Build on the beach
Build under the library
Increase the in-lieu fees to the actual cost of a new parking spot
Stop the in-lieu program
As the city continues to issue the in-lieu parking the city is only making the problem worse.
Frank
I do not want to find a parking solution, because it will result in more bars. I want to make the parking so bad that it drives out the kiddy bars. It’s all one issue in my book. The bars, parking, traffic, overdevelopment & the corrupt city council representing the developers. We were doing so well and now we are becoming the arm pit of Orange County again. When I was a kid city council was run by the oil companies and now it is run by the developers. What candidates are representing the developers in this race? Have you asked them directly if they are taking contributions from developers? That should be your next poll. Stop pussy footing around the issue. Who is buying who? Name names.
Norm
Keith Bohr is a Developer and the current Mayor, also from what I have been told he does not live in HB (anyone know for sure)
Nancy, Andre & Norm I hope this addresses some of your questions and comments.
THE PARKING STUDY IS FLAWED
The parking study should have adjusted the parking demand as if the buildings were at full occupancy. This is a basic practice with parking studies because if the building is 70% occupied and the parking structure is 80% occupied there is no excess parking supply. Once the building reaches 95% or more occupancy there parking will be at capacity. If a parking study does not analyze the building occupancy they do not have a proper baseline. This is one of the major mistakes the city made while preparing the EIR for the DTSP, and one of the cited issues in our CEQA lawsuit. The parking shortage is worse than represented in the study.
THE PARKING PROBLEM IS TIED DIRECTLY TO THE NUMBER OF BARS
During the last five years, as more bars have opened and their patrons more often fill the parking inventory to capacity, parking in DT has worsened. The city’s parking study states that parking reaches 90% to 100% capacity on typical summer weekends and exceeds the parking inventory on holiday and event weekends. These are inevitable and acceptable for a beach town. Easy to spot parking options, like meters on the streets and the Main Promenade structure reach capacity first with the subterranean parking at Pierside Pavilion and The Strand are the last to reach capacity.
IT IS HARD TO CHANGE THE BEHAVIOR OF THE DANGIOURS PATRONS
Many bar patrons will not park in the downtown parking structures because they intend on driving home drunk, and they are attempting to avoid driving in the Main St area under the watchful eyes of the police. These individuals parking behaviors will not be changed by a permit parking program. These are the individuals who will walk further. These are the individuals that bring crime into our neighborhoods.
WE ARE THE EASIEST TO PARK OF THE OC PARTY CITIES
If you compare DTHB to other beach cities such as Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, Seal Beach, Hermosa Beach, or Manhattan Beach, you will find DTHB has much more convenient parking. DTHB is very easy for inland residents and tourist to park than the other five mentioned beach cities. Only the more urban centers of Santa Monica, Long Beach or Downtown San Diego offer similar larger convenient parking structures near the ocean. Does DTHB want to draw more people from the inland areas, or be more “local” like the other mentioned beach cities?
Richard Plummer
All I know is I want painted parking spots in front of my home on 11th and permitted parking!!!! I don’t want locals and whomever (909′ers, 636, 310, eieio) to squeeze their Hummers, Monster Trucks, RV’s, junkers or homes (summer bums the dude with the Red Truck filled with trash. I don’t want to have to pickup diapers, trash, booze bottles, clothing, condoms, etc left behind. I want to make the parking tough so taggers stay away. All numbered streets should be permitted and if and when the parking pushes past main, then use permits there also..