Eron Ben-Yehuda
HUNTINGTON BEACH -- After getting an earful at a previous meeting, the
City Council backed down this week from its initial plan to double the
rate of metered parking Downtown.
The council unanimously approved bumping the cost from $1 to $1.50
instead of $2 an hour, which City Councilman Dave Sullivan said was "too
much of a jump."
The new rate brings Downtown meters in line with those on nearby
streets and along Pacific Coast Highway.
Unlike earlier meetings, no one from the public spoke out before the
vote. Merchant Jinx Verona, owner of the Main Street clothing store Cat
Walk, had planned to voice his protest, but he lost patience -- the
council didn't address the matter until after 11 p.m.
"I don't want to sit here and fight with those morons," he said as he
stormed out of the meeting.
On April 3, the council approved doubling the rate of parking at the
Main Promenade Parking Structure, a public garage on Walnut Avenue and
3rd Street.
City officials said the main impetus for the rise in parking rates is
to help make the city-owned structure profitable for the first time since
its opening in the early 1990s. The money generated from the meters will
help make up for the structure's losses over the years.
