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Pacific Grove to study paid parking on Ocean View and approves ParkMobile for ATC meters
Summary
Council authorized staff to study paid parking expansion on Ocean View Boulevard and other corridors and unanimously approved a ParkMobile agreement for 101 meters near the ATC area. Staff stressed neighborhood permit protections and Coastal Commission review as needed.
The Pacific Grove City Council on June 17 authorized staff to pursue a feasibility study for expanding paid parking on a section of Ocean View Boulevard and “other corridors as felt necessary by staff,” and separately approved an agreement with ParkMobile to enable mobile payment for 101 existing meters near the ATC/aquarium area.
Paid-parking feasibility Staff proposed a phase-one focus area on Ocean View Boulevard (presented with map boundaries) and outlined the next steps: evaluate Coastal Development Permit (CDP) requirements and associated environmental review, conduct neighborhood outreach, design residential permit districts or resident exemptions to prevent spillover parking, estimate capital and operating costs, and prepare a revenue-vs-cost model to determine whether net proceeds would justify implementation. Staff stressed that any paid-parking plan must address unintended consequences and preserve resident access.
Several long-time residents urged care and protections for neighbors and noted that Ocean View’s public-access status historically involved Coastal Commission review; staff and council said they would review prior records and the local coastal plan language that requires reinvestment of coastal parking proceeds into coastal protection/maintenance.
ParkMobile approval and implementation Chief Casey Day recommended a ParkMobile contract (procured through the Omnia Partners cooperative) to add mobile-payment capability at the city’s 101 meters near the ATC and aquarium. Staff noted coins currently represent about 7% of transactions at those meters and that ParkMobile charges a customer transaction fee (stated in the presentation as $0.40 per transaction) to parkers; the agreement will be executed on the city’s standard contract template after risk-pool review. Staff emphasized data and analytics from a mobile platform would help set fees and manage turnover.
Council action and follow-up Council discussed resident protections, possible costs for implementation and whether consultant support would be needed; members asked staff to return with historical records of past permit programs and Coastal Commission decisions. The motion to authorize a feasibility analysis for Ocean View Boulevard (and other corridors as needed) and to pursue ParkMobile for the ATC meters passed unanimously.
Next steps: Staff will perform a feasibility analysis (CDP review, environmental scoping, permit-district design, cost and revenue analysis) and return to council with recommendations; ParkMobile implementation will proceed under the Omnia Partners agreement terms and city standard contract review.
