The latest tweaks were supported by some downtown business owners who argued that since the city installed meters and adopted its new enforcement schedule, some patrons have given up on dealing with the hassle of using the electronic payment machines, said Jano Baghdanian, the city’s traffic and transportation administrator.
A minor change to the parking hours might accommodate more of those businesses, Baghdanian told the commission before its decision Monday.
“You have the situation where some of the establishments, such as Starbucks or coffee places that people just want to buy a quick coffee and get in and out, [customers have] complained that ‘I have to pay 50 cents or a quarter to go buy a cup of coffee,’” Baghdanian said. “So those establishments, if you maintain the hours at 6 a.m., they probably will not be happy.”
The commission crafted the proposal after deciding to forgo options presented by city officials that included limiting parking enforcement to between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., staggering time periods to two-hour parking during the day and extended four-hour meters between 6 and 10 p.m.
Officials proposed the flexibility because downtown visitors have often preferred to park at a street meter rather than in the city’s parking structure for lower rates, he said.
“The on-street parking option will be more expensive, but for convenience purposes if that’s what they desire, at least we’re not taking it away from them,” he said.
Allowing more flexibility for meter usage will help some businesses and allow more freedom to those, for example, who might want to park in front of the Alex Theatre before an evening show, said Elissa Glickman, associate director of Glendale Arts, which oversees the venue.
The option might be most useful for people who want to park on the street and buy tickets, she said.
“They can park in front of the theater, put their money into the meter, and they have the ability to do that without having to drive around Brand Boulevard for two hours trying to look for a space,” she said.
The Transportation and Parking Commission suggested to move the meter start time by just one hour after merchants encouraged it to refrain from making major changes to a schedule that consumers are already getting used to, they said.
The change would allow early visitors at coffee shops, principally Starbucks, to avoid the inconvenience of a meter, while also starting parking enforcement hours before area employees have an opportunity to fill up space on Brand that should go to customers instead, Baghdanian said.
