TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Talyn Mirzakhanian, City Manager
FROM:
Libby Bretthauer, Finance Director
Masa Alkire, Community Development Director
Emy-Rose Hanna, Financial Services Manager
Erik Zandvliet, Traffic Engineer
Adam Finestone, Planning Manager
Justin Urbanski, Associate Planner
SUBJECT:Title
Conduct a Public Hearing for Consideration of:
a) Coastal Development Permits to Approve an Adjustment to Hourly Public Parking Rates for On-Street Parking, City Parking Lots and Beach Parking Lots in the Coastal Zone;
b) A Resolution to Approve an Adjustment to Hourly Public Parking Rates for On-Street Parking Outside of the Coastal Zone; and
c) A Resolution to Approve an Increase to Citywide Parking Citation Penalties (Unbudgeted) (Finance Director Bretthauer and Community Development Director Alkire).
(Estimated Time: 45 Min.)
A) CONDUCT PUBLIC HEARING
B) ADOPT RESOLUTION NOS. 26-0068, 26-0069, 26-0070, AND 26-0071
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
After conducting the public hearing, Staff recommends the City Council adopt:
1) Resolution No. 26-0068, approving a Coastal Development Permit to adjust hourly public parking rates for on-street parking, City parking lots and beach parking lots within the appealable portion of the Coastal Zone;
2) Resolution No. 26-0069, approving a Coastal Development Permit to adjust hourly public parking rates for on-street parking and City parking lots within the non-appealable portion of the Coastal Zone;
3) Resolution No. 26-0070, approving an adjustment to hourly public parking rates for on-street parking outside of the Coastal Zone; and
4) Resolution No. 26-0071, approving an increase to Citywide parking citation penalties.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The recommended action of adjusting the hourly public parking rates for the City lots, on-street parking, and beach lots (County and State) was developed through strategies identified in the City’s adopted Parking Management Study. These adjustments are described further in the discussion section of this report and would entail both increases and decreases to the City’s existing hourly public parking rates. The recommended rates would vary depending on time of year (peak summer months v. off-peak months) and parking location (high demand parking areas v. lower demand parking). These demand-based parking rate strategies were developed based on the recommendations of the City’s parking consultant (Walker Consultants), who prepared the City Parking Management Study. For Fiscal Year 2026-2027, the recommended parking rate adjustments would result in an estimated increase of $916,000 in the Parking Fund, $36,000 in the State Pier and Parking Lot Fund and a decrease of $276,952 in the County Parking Lots Fund, which is solely due to the temporary closure of the Bruce’s Beach Parking Lot for 28th Street Infiltration Project construction. Once the Bruce’s Beach parking lot reopens, the County Parking Lots Fund should see an annual revenue increase estimated at $99,000.
Additionally, the proposed increase to the parking citation penalty amount is estimated to generate approximately $290,000 annually in the General Fund based on an average volume of 60,000 parking citations issued per year.
Together, these parking-related program changes will provide the necessary revenue to support ongoing parking infrastructure needs and related activity.
BACKGROUND:
Hourly Public Parking Rates
Citywide parking meter rates are reevaluated periodically to ensure rate revenue is sufficient and can support the cost of rising operations in the various Parking Funds and replacement of aging parking infrastructure. On September 15, 2020, the City Council approved increases for parking meter rates to $2.00 per hour for on-street meters and City-owned parking lots. Six months later, on March 16, 2021, the City Council approved increases for parking meter rates to $2.50 per hour for beach parking lots (Pier, 26th Street and El Porto). Those increases were a direct response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to offset parking revenue losses due to outdoor dining areas utilizing metered parking spaces. The last parking meter rate adjustments were approved on April 15, 2025, which set the parking meter rates at $2.50 per hour for on-street meters and City-owned parking lots and $3.50 per hour for beach parking lots (Pier, 26th Street and El Porto).
On September 25, 2025, the Parking and Public Improvements Commission reviewed the Draft City Parking Management Strategies and Toolkit and recommended a list of parking strategies to City Council for further consideration. The variable parking rate strategy was recommended as a best practice to address demand and equity, whereby parking rates could remain lower in non-peak seasons/low-demand areas while the parking rates would be higher in the peak seasons/high-demand areas.
On November 3, 2025, the City Council discussed and approved the Parking Management Strategies and Toolkit. On April 7, 2026, the City Council approved the City Parking Management Study Report and provided direction to proceed with implementing the parking strategies identified in the Study, including pursuing variable hourly parking rates based on season and location.
Additionally, during the FY 2027 Budget adoption presentation on June 2, 2026, the parking meter rates were identified as a critical revenue enhancement need given the amount of unfunded infrastructure and maintenance obligations. At that meeting, City Council directed staff to come back with the proposed parking meter rates developed through the Study.
On June 25, 2026, the Parking and Public Improvements Commission (“PPIC”) reviewed the proposed variable parking rates developed through the City Parking Management Study and recommended approval to City Council.
Parking Citation Penalties
The City’s parking citation penalties are occasionally reevaluated to address the rising costs of parking enforcement operations, which is an activity supported by the General Fund. Prior to last year, the citation penalties had not been updated since 2015. On July 21, 2015, City Council approved $5.00 increases for all parking fines, which resulted in a majority of the parking citations increasing to $53. On April 15, 2025, City Council considered adjusting the parking citations from $53 to $65, which would have applied a $12 increase to all fines, however, direction was given to limit the increase to $6, which effectively adjusted the citations from $53 to $59 for most fines.
Similar to the parking meter rates, the parking citation fines were identified as a General Fund revenue enhancement during the FY 2027 Budget Adoption presentation on June 2, 2026. At that meeting, City Council directed staff to come back with the proposed parking citation fines for consideration.
DISCUSSION:
With rising costs for both parking infrastructure and parking enforcement operations, coupled with increased demand for parking availability, staff began re-evaluating the hourly parking rates and parking citation program more frequently to better align revenue from parking rates with critical funding needs across the various Parking Funds and the General Fund. Additionally, smaller incremental increases may be easier for consumers than larger, less frequent increases.
Hourly Public Parking Rates
The recommended action of adjusting the hourly public parking rates for the City lots, on-street parking, and beach lots (County and State) was developed through strategies identified in the adopted City Parking Management Study. These adjustments would entail both increases and decreases to the hourly parking rates, which would vary depending on time of year (peak summer months versus off-peak months) and parking location (high demand parking areas versus lower demand parking).
The purpose of variable pricing strategies is to allow for greater utilization of the available parking supply and to incentivize alternative transportation modes. The recommended variable rates range from $2.00 to $4.00 per hour and are identified in more detail in the attached PowerPoint and through Exhibit A within Resolution Nos. 26-0068, 26-0069 and 26-0070. If approved, the proposed hourly public parking rate adjustments would go into effect on August 1, 2026.
For Fiscal Year 2026-2027, the parking rate adjustments would result in an estimated increase of $916,000 in the City Parking Fund and $36,000 in the State Pier and Parking Lot Fund. There would be a temporary revenue decrease of $276,952 in the County Parking Lots Fund, due to the temporary closure of Bruce’s Beach Parking Lot for 28th Street Infiltration Project construction.
These parking rate adjustments will provide the necessary revenue to support ongoing parking infrastructure needs and related activity. The abrupt and unanticipated closure of Parking Lot 3 in July 2024 caused a ripple effect that resulted in less parking availability, increased parking demand and urgency for solutions to mitigate the parking impacts from the temporary loss of 145 parking spaces that were previously in Lot 3. With Project Pulse underway, the combination of Lot 3 and 400 MBB projects will be redeveloped in the future to incorporate critical replacement parking in the Downtown area along with other potential uses that result from the community engagement efforts and conceptual designs for Project Pulse.
In a scenario where 145 parking spaces are replaced by construction of a new parking structure, construction costs are estimated between $10.2 million to $21.0 million based on an average cost of construction per parking space of $70,000 for above-ground parking up to $145,000 per space for subterranean parking. The average cost of construction per parking space was developed based on the engineer’s estimates from the Lot 3 Feasibility Study completed back in 2023. Based on the rough estimates of $10.2 million to $21.0 million in this scenario, the expected increase in debt service payments could be in the range of $600,000 to $1.4 million per year.
In addition to the Lot 3 parking lot replacement costs, the City is assessing other critical needs such as aging parking infrastructure throughout Downtown and North Manhattan Beach, waterproofing parking structures and other parking improvement projects as aging infrastructure reaches its maximum useful life.
Parking Rate Survey
In determining the market rate for hourly parking, staff conducted a survey of local Southern California cities to evaluate comparable rates and found that the City’s existing hourly parking rates of $2.50 - $3.50 were low in comparison to the other cities.
A total of eight cities were surveyed including the cities of Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Hermosa Beach, Laguna Beach, Long Beach, and Redondo Beach. The survey results range widely as most cities have hourly parking rates that vary by lot/location, by season and/or by time of day. For this reason, the survey identifies a range between the lowest and highest hourly rate. For example, hourly rates in Newport Beach range from $4.10 to $8.55, Huntington Beach range from $3.00 to $4.00, Santa Monica range from $2.50 to $3.75, Laguna Beach range from $2.50 to $4.00, Long Beach range from $2.00 to $6.00, Beverly Hills range from $0.00 to $6.00 (parking is free for the first hour), Hermosa Beach range from $3.00 to $3.50, and Redondo Beach range from $1.50 to $2.00. This survey indicates that the price points for parking in prime areas among these municipalities are mostly between $3.00 per hour and $8.55 per hour in beach lots during peak hours. The proposed adjustments to the City’s hourly parking rates would make the price to park in Manhattan Beach comparable with other local cities and would better align with the market rate for parking. These survey results are illustrated in more detail in the attached PowerPoint.
Annual Adjustment
To keep up with the rising costs of maintaining parking operations and infrastructure, as well as future debt issuance related to parking facilities, it is recommended that beginning July 1, 2027 through July 1, 2030, the variable hourly public parking rates would be adjusted annually by ten percent (10%) rounded to the nearest five cents ($0.05). The variable rates and annual adjustments would be authorized by adoption of Resolution Nos. 26-0068, 26-0069 and 26-0070 and a Local Coastal Permit with the end date for annual adjustments on July 1, 2030. After this five-year period, the parking rates would be revisited and brought back for further consideration by the PPIC and City Council.
The annual adjustment is consistent with how other jurisdictions have maintained parking rates on an annual incremental basis with small increases. This strategy is an alternative to proposing larger/sudden increases every few years. It is staff’s understanding that the annual adjustment of parking rates is allowed by the Coastal Commission, as confirmed by the City of Newport Beach adopting a similar annual adjustment process in 2015.
Coastal Development Permits
On June 17, 2026, the Community Development Department received an application from the Finance Department (“Applicant”) for Coastal Development Permits to adjust parking rates for on-street public parking spaces and public parking spaces within City, County, and State-owned public parking lots (“Project”).
The parking rate adjustments are proposed Citywide, including in the Coastal Zone. For that reason, the proposed modifications to the parking rates are subject to the Manhattan Beach Local Coastal Program (LCP). Coastal Development Permits are governed by Chapter A.96 of the LCP. Sections A.96.040 and A.96.230 specify that, “A coastal development permit is required for any development, including gates, parking controls, new locations for parking areas, changes in fee structure, expansion of times and hours in which monthly permits may be offered, or other devices in the coastal zone that change the availability of long and short term public parking, including, but not limited to, changes in the operation of the City parking management program established in §A.64.230.” The subject request includes adjustments to the parking rates for the on-street parking, City-owned lot parking, and State Pier and County lot parking. Therefore, Coastal Development Permits are required for these parking locations that are within the appealable and non-appealable portions of the Coastal Zone (included as Attachments 1 and 2 to this staff report).
Furthermore, pursuant to Sections A.96.030(D) and A.96.080(B) of the LCP, the City Council retains decision-making authority on the two Coastal Development Permits as the Council is the decision-making authority on City parking rate increases. The City Council shall consider the project request at a public hearing, prior to rendering a decision on the application.
Parking Citation Penalties
California Vehicle Code Section 40203.5 authorizes the City to establish penalties for parking violations. On April 15, 2025, the City Council considered adjusting the parking citations from $53 to $65, which would have applied a $12 increase to all fines, however, direction was given to limit the increase to $6, which effectively adjusted the citations from $53 to $59 for most fines. Prior to last year, the City’s parking penalties had not been changed since 2015.
The proposed Resolution No. 26-0071 would increase all parking citation penalties by $6. This will result in the majority of parking citations increasing from $59 to $65 (the same recommended fine as proposed in April 2025). Certain more serious infractions currently carry higher penalties, such as unauthorized use of a disabled parking space, which is currently set at $344 and would increase by $6 to $350. If approved, the proposed increase to the parking citation penalties would take effect on August 1, 2026.
Parking Citation Fine Survey
In determining the market rate for parking citation penalties, staff surveyed local cities that issue parking citations and found that the City’s existing $59 fine for a typical parking citation was low compared to other cities.
Through the survey, staff compared the two most common citations, which are expired meter fines and street sweeping fines. Included in the survey are the cities of Newport Beach ($78/$72), Redondo Beach ($79/$55), Santa Monica ($63/$73), Los Angeles ($63/$73), Huntington Beach ($65/$65), Culver City ($55/$60), Beverly Hills ($55/$68), and Hermosa Beach ($63/$48). Similarly, the proposed parking citation fine of $65 will make Manhattan Beach more comparable with other local cities and would better align with the market rate for parking fines. These survey results are illustrated in the attached PowerPoint.
Annual Adjustment
To keep up with rising costs of parking enforcement operations, including the staffing, materials and services, and vehicle replacement costs involved with enforcing parking regulations, beginning July 1, 2027 through July 1, 2030, the parking citation fines would be adjusted annually by five percent (5%) rounded to the nearest dollar ($1.00).
This strategy is an alternative to proposing large/sudden increases every few years. After this five-year period, the parking citations would be revisited and brought back for further consideration by City Council.
Conclusion:
Following the public hearing, staff recommends adopting Resolution Nos. 26-0068, 26-0069, 26-0070, and 26-0071. If adopted, the new variable hourly public parking rates, and parking citation penalties would go into effect August 1, 2026 and adjust annually on July 1, 2027 through July 1, 2030. Scheduling the Effective Date three weeks following the public hearing meets the minimum 15-day appeal period for the Coastal Development Permits for the parking rate adjustments. Additionally, the three-week delay will provide the necessary time to update the City’s parking meter management system and parking citation software and hardware to reflect the new rates/penalties.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
A public notice for the July 7, 2026, public hearing was published in The Beach Reporter on June 25, 2026. Also on June 25, 2026, the PPIC discussed and recommended approval of the variable parking rate strategies based on the City Parking Management Study. Additionally, the City provided advance courtesy notice to the Downtown Business and Professional Association, Chamber of Commerce and North Manhattan Beach Business Improvement District.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed project for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that it is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378(b)(4) of the State CEQA Guidelines because the proposal involves an adjustment of hourly public parking rates for on-street parking, City parking lots and beach parking lots in the City and an increase to Citywide Parking Citation Penalties, and therefore involves the amendment of existing government funding mechanisms and other governmental fiscal activities which do not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution No. 26-0068 (Appealable Area)
2. Resolution No. 26-0069 (Non-Appealable Area)
3. Coastal Development Permit Application (Appealable Area)
4. Coastal Development Permit Application (Non-Appealable Area)
5. Resolution No. 26-0070 (Parking Rates Outside the Coastal Zone)
6. Parking Meter Zones Map
7. Resolution No. 26-0071 (Parking Citation Penalties)
8. PowerPoint Presentation