Aug 1st 2022: The Costa Mesa City Council has approved changing the cities municipal code concerning its residential parking permit program in a 6 to 1 vote. What the change means is in neighborhoods which require parking permits to park on the street there will now be a charge for the permits which formally were free.
The permits are designed to solve clogged parking on the street in several areas of the city. The reasons why street parking in some areas is an issue is because of varies reasons including apartments without enough parking as well as people using their garages for storage instead of putting their cars.
Are All Residential Streets Going To Require A Parking Permit?
For the new parking program to start in a neighborhood there has to be a parking issue; Also 51 percent of all affected tenants of homeowners must sign a petition before the city will approve the zone.
How Much Will The Permits Cost?
If you want to park your car on the street the first permit will now cost $25 the second wiill cost $50 with the fourth permit up to $100. If you qualify as low income you will get discount parking permits at $5 for the first permit, $10 for a second permit, $25 for a third permit and $40 for a fourth permit.
Can You Get Guest Passes?
Yes you will be able to get up to 100 guest passes per household and, they will work with you in special circumstances if you need more.
What Happens If You Park Without A Permit?
If you park without a permit in these areas you could get a $114 parking fine per day. The area will be enforced by parking control with special license plate reader cameras.
Opinion Of Costa Mesa Insider
The parking permit program fees are described as just to cover the programs cost. If the city gets a lot of $114 parking fines then the program could be a profit center for the city. If the city uses this money only to improve parking or streets in the permit areas where its collected then this could be a valid use. If money gets mixed in with regular parking money or the general fund monies then the fines might not be great.
We are all for improving parking in Costa Mesa but this looks like a stealth tax on the residents or visitors to Costa Mesa. The $114 parking ticket is excessive, money gained by parking tickets should be used to cover the costs of enforcement and running the program it should be revenue neutral; The problem with most cities is they see parking tickets as a huge pot of free money not as a parking control option.
This won’t help at all in my neighborhood, as everyone will magically be low income. And hundreds of guest passes will negate the entire thing anyway. I also think folks might start to feel entitled to a spot on the street, they are paying for it after all. Whether this will cause conflict I couldn’t say. Folks are pretty chill in my hood, but if you get home after 4 PM there’s no parking. And none on weekends. There’s a lot of lawn parking and driveway blocking happening. In SoCal you need to plan for 1 spot for every resident over 16 years old, 2 per household is a farce.
I can’t edit, but I’ll throw in that if discouraging street parking is the goal, then the rates are not only too low, but WAY too low. For instance, I’d pay $1 a day, but I’d start reconsidering owning that car at $2+ a day. And $1 a day seems a completely reasonable amount to pay to park. But even 50 cents a day would have more impact than $25 (a year?).
I know I’m off target commenting on senior parking.
But……… my income is 1350 from social security and another 800 net from a crossing guard corner on 18th and Placentia. I’m 72 and in October soon to be 73. I’ve been a general contractor here since 1981.
I’m used to having my own home and maintaining it nicely. It seems like we’re heading into aproblem face first with know where for us seniors to go “home”. We have condos popping up everywhere and more coming immediately on the west side.
New power poles are going up epspecially on west Monrovia street to facilitate the new influx of condos that will be starting construction within the next twelve months.
I have been told today that Trader Joe’s store on 17th has sold out to developers and Michael’s is already gone which is probably part of the same property as trader Jose’s. Also our treasured old quansit hut funny buildings are part of the same move so Costa Mesa can be part of Newport Beach. Is Costa Mesa going to be renamed “Newport West”. I for one that helped build Costa Mesa won’t be able to live here any longer
..Or will the city fathers create an affordable space for us seniors that helped create Costa Mesa? How can we get the city fathers to grant us a plot of ground to live and finish our lives on? Really reasonable rents..I have like the rest of you have paid through the nose for 50 years for our sunshine and water rationing etc.. We deserve a place to finish living out our lives,, Costa Mesa is home. Help us oldsters please.
David thank you for your comments, yes the lack of affordable housing means many people will move out of Costa Mesa. Many people cannot afford the million dollar plus new properties being built in the city. If you own a house and think it doesn’t effect you what happens when your local grocery store or restaurant doesn’t have enough employees because they cannot afford to live here;
Or lack of families with kids so your local schools have to close schools which has already happened in Huntington Beach. If people cannot to live here they won’t retire here they will move out of the area or explore out of state options.
I don’t understand how anyone thinks it’s a fair or good idea to sell permitted parking to residents who don’t actually live in the SINGLE family home areas . Shouldn’t the apartment complexes be responsible to provide enough parking spaces for its tenants. Or perhaps they should police it a little better and only allow 1 family per apartment? It’s a tough one to swallow when the home owner is paying an extraordinary amount of property taxes which keep the roads running to actually have to pay to park in front of your own house or God forbid you have family over to visit and have to pay for that parking as well . It’s all crazy to me
I agree. As someone who lives in a apartment/condo neighborhood. We are 4 adults renting a 3 bedroom apartment. 3 of us with a car, that we use daily. But our neighbor across the street, which looks to be an older couple and their late teenage son have 5 cars! 2 of which they don’t even use regularly. They park all but one on the street and double park. It’s annoying when trying to find parking or having to have a guest park around the block.
Thank you for your comment Anon