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City
Council Report |
City Council Meeting: October 8,
2013
Agenda Item: 7-D
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Gigi Decavalles-Hughes, Director of
Finance
Subject: Introduction and First Reading of an Ordinance
Modifying Section 3.16.120 of Santa Monica Municipal Code Related to Exemption
of Payment at Parking Meters for Clean Air Vehicles
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the
City Council introduce for first reading an ordinance eliminating the phrase
“valid and current” from Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 3.16.120 related
to exemptions from payment at parking meters.
Executive Summary
Over the past several
years, the City has adopted various policies to better manage its parking
resources. Additionally, the City has continued to adopt policies that seek to
minimize pollution and encourage the use of environmentally sustainable transportation.
For clean air vehicles, these policies sometimes contradict one another. The
adopted Land Use and Circulation Element includes
numerous policies to eliminate parking subsidies and to use pricing to manage
parking. The Sustainable City Plan includes policies to encourage the use of
clean air vehicles and reduce the City’s dependence on non-renewable energy
sources. Since 2002, the City has used various versions of an exemption from
payment at parking meters to encourage this environmental goal. The current
version of the ordinance provides an exemption from payment at parking meters
for vehicles that display current and valid decals. As the decals expire, so
does the exemption from payment at parking meters, eliminating one incentive
for the use of clean-air vehicles. To balance the City’s parking and
environmental goals, this report proposes to eliminate the phrase “valid and
current” from Santa Monica Municipal Code Section 3.16.120, thereby permanently
providing the exemption from payment at parking meters for early adopters of
clean air technology. This recommendation provides the incentive for early
adopters of clean air technology provided for in the City’s Sustainable City
Plan, while limiting the total exemption to only those that qualify for State-issued
decals, reducing the impact on parking and reducing the impact to the City’s
General Fund from lost meter revenue.
Background
At its meeting on August 27, Council directed staff to prepare an amendment to
Municipal Code section 3.16.120, clarifying local parking policies to encourage
electric and other low- or zero-emission vehicle adoption by removing
unintended consequences caused by having linked those policies to changing
state rules, and return to the Council at a future meeting for discussion and
possible adoption.
On July 10, 2012, Council introduced an
ordinance and adopted comprehensive parking policy and rate changes that have
helped the City better manage its parking, most visibly through the relocation
of over 900 long-term Downtown parkers out of the core structures to the
previously underutilized Civic Center. These changes further implemented
specific parking policies adopted in the Land Use and Circulation Element
(LUCE).
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21.2: Consider eliminating direct and hidden subsidies of motor
vehicle parking and driving, making the true costs of parking and driving
visible to motorists.
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21.5: Strive to implement measures to minimize the time motorists
spend searching for parking through way-finding and pricing parking to create
availability.
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21.6: Consider parking pricing and commuter parking limits as
tools for managing congestion.
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26.6: Use parking pricing as a tool to manage congestion.
Over the past decade, Council
has also adopted numerous policies to further its environmental sustainability
goals, including policies related to natural resources and transportation that
include:
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Reducing total greenhouse gas emissions by at least 15% below 1990
levels by 2015 citywide.
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Increase percent of total vehicles that are qualified low emission
/ alternative fuel vehicles.
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Reduce number of signalized intersections with unacceptable motor
vehicle congestion (LOS D, E or F) during peak hours.
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Reduce the number of locally classified streets that exceed City thresholds
for traffic levels.
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Increasing energy use from renewable and more efficient sources.
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Increasing average vehicle ridership (AVR) for commuters.
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Increase ridership on the Big Blue Bus.
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Increase bicycle ridership through the various policies included
in the Bicycle Action Plan.
As a means to encourage the use
of clean air vehicles, Council has adopted policies that provide for an
exemption of payment at parking meters for vehicles that display clean-air decals.
These decals are typically available only to early adopters of the technology
through a State program that often provides other incentives, such as single
occupant use of high occupancy (HOV) lanes. The original yellow decals were
issued for gas-electric hybrid vehicles and were valid through June 30, 2011.
White decals are available for an unlimited number of Federal Inherently Low Emission
Vehicles (ILEV) and are valid until January 1, 2015. Green decals are available
to the first 40,000 applicants that purchase California Enhanced Advanced
Technology Partial Zero Emission Vehicle (PZEV). Attachment A includes a list
of qualifying vehicles. Additionally, some early owners of Neighborhood
Electric Vehicles (NEV), 100% electric, low speed vehicles, also have decals.
On February 26, 2002, Council adopted an amended
ordinance exempting electric vehicles displaying Clean Air Vehicle Decals from
depositing money in City parking meters. On November 12, 2002, in order to expand the
exemption for payment at parking meters to compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquid petroleum gas (LPG), Council amended the ordinance to extend the exemption to
all clean-air decals.
On July 27, 2010, Council adopted modification
to SMMC Section 3.16.120 that clarified holidays and also that sought to
streamline the language providing exemption for payment at parking meters for
various special recognition plates. As part of the streamlining of the
language, the words “valid and current” were added to clarify that only those
license plates and decals that are then current are exempted from payment at
parking meters. This language was recommended at that time, in part, to ensure
that the City had the ability to continuously honor new clean-air decals and
special recognition plates that may be created in the future to ensure the
City’s ability to continue to provide incentives to early adopters of the
latest clean-air vehicles.
Discussion
Santa Monica has specific adopted policies to
use parking pricing as a means to manage traffic and congestion and to
encourage the use of low to zero emission vehicles. Over the past decade, Council
has adopted various versions of a policy that provides an exemption from
payment at on-street parking meters as a means to encourage the use of clean
air vehicles. By utilizing the State’s decal program, described in the
“Background” section, which has limitations and well defined requirements, the
City’s exemption has been restricted to adopters
of the latest, cleanest vehicles. In addition to limiting the incentive to
early adopters of clean-air vehicles, the utilization of the State’s decal program
limits the potential revenue loss for the City by providing free parking at
on-street meters to only those vehicles that display State-issued decals.
The proposed modification of Santa Monica
Municipal Code Section 3.16.120, would eliminate the phrase “valid and current”
from the Code that exempts clean air decals from payment at parking meters,
thereby extending indefinitely the exemption from payment at parking meters for
early adopters of various clean air technology. The proposed ordinance would immediately
affect vehicles with the expired yellow and neighborhood electric vehicle (NEV)
clean air decals, as those decals expired on July 1, 2011. These vehicles, along with vehicles that
display the valid and current white and green decals, would receive free parking
at on-street parking meters. This
proposed change would continue the incentive for early adopters of clean air
technology and further the goals of the Sustainable City Plan by providing free
parking at on street meters for vehicles displaying clean air decals.
Alternatives
Council could also consider alternatives to
staff’s recommendations, specifically:
1)
Maintain the current
policy of only honoring “valid and current decals.” This alternative would further Council’s
environmental goals by providing exemption from payment at parking meters for
the latest clean-air vehicles and would continue the expiration of the
privilege as technology changes and new decals are authorized by the State. However, early adopters of clean vehicle technology
would continue to lose the additional City-provided incentive as the various
decal programs expire.
2)
Modify the ordinance
to provide the exemption from payment at parking meters to only the expired
Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) decals, while continuing to sunset the
privilege for other clean-air decals, such as the yellow, white, and green
decals. This recommendation would favor
the LUCE and Parking policies Council has adopted by providing the payment
exemption only to the latest, cleanest vehicles and NEV vehicles. This alternative impacts early adopters of
clean vehicle technology, except for NEVs, as the various decal programs
expire.
Financial
Impact and Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or
budget action necessary as a result of the recommended action. The revenue gain from the expiration of the
yellow decals was not significant enough to be measureable when the program
expired.
Prepared by: Donald Patterson, Assistant
Director - Finance
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Approved: |
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Forwarded to Council: |
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Gigi Decavalles-Hughes Director of Finance |
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Rod Gould City Manager |
Attachments: