1 Date: June 23, 2025
To: Public Works and Sustainability Commission
From: Public Works Department
Subject: DISCUSSION OF POTENTIAL REFORMS TO THE CITY’S
PREFERENTIAL PARKING PERMIT PROGRAM
SUMMARY:
City staff received a referral from the Public Works & Sustainability Commission (PWSC) to discuss potential changes to the City’s Preferential Parking Permit (PPP) Program. The request stems from a desire to create more flexibility to add and/or remove zones to meet needs of the residents. The current Redondo Beach Municipal Code (RBMC) is highly restrictive and prescriptive as it relates to the PPP Program. Staff reviewed the PPP Program against similar programs in other cities such as Santa Monica, Culver City, and West Hollywood. These cities offer robust permit programs using best practices that reflect various street parking complexities.
BACKGROUND:
The City offers a number of parking permit programs for different needs. They include:
Annual Parking Meter Permits (available to all; bypasses per use payment up to the stated time limit)
Riviera Village Employee Parking Meter Permits (Riviera Village businesses only, specific meters only; bypasses per use payment and short-term time limits) Waterfront area employee permits
Preferential Parking Permits (discussed in detail below; bypasses stated restriction) Oversized Vehicle Permits (required when vehicle exceeds a certain size / dimension)
Senior Parking Meter Permit (age 62+ only; bypasses payment at 309 Esplanade and Lot 4 that serve a senior center)
This discussion focuses on the Preferential Parking Permits (PPP) Program. RBMC 3-7.17 governs the establishment, revisions, determination criteria, permit issuance, termination, and prohibitions related to preferential parking zones. RBMC 3-7.17 can be found here:
https://ecode360.com/42644496#42644496
PPPs are only available with proof of residency on that particular block or group of blocks.
At this time, the City contains 10 PPP zones, shown in Attachment 1. Each zone has a unique parking restriction and may encompass more than one block of a street.
Administrative Report
2 Administration of the PPP Program is currently handled by the Police Department Parking Enforcement Unit. At this time, administration and enforcement is largely handled via paper, in-person, and/or mail-based methods. The Police Department is working to transition to an online-based system.
DISCUSSION:
Currently, Public Works and Police staff have observed the following issues with the PPP Program. They are shown in the table below. Police Parking Enforcement Unit’s comments can also be found in Attachment 2.
# Issue Effect
1. RBMC 3-7.17 does not allow for the
creation of temporary PPP zones in
response to large scale public and /
or temporary events due to current
requirement that parking conflicts
occur on “regular and significant
daily or weekly intervals.”
Events such as the Seaside Holiday Lights in
Torrance cause undue traffic and parking
impacts in Redondo neighborhoods.
2. RBMC allows only a 2/3 majority of
residents to advance consideration
to add, modify, or remove PPP
zones. All PPP zone changes must
go through the same petition
process on the subject block.
Consideration to remove or modify existing
PPP zones in consideration of other needs is
impeded due to reliance on resident support
likely unaware of other needs. Residents on
adjacent blocks outside a PPP zone express
frustration to City due to unfairness.
3. Current PPP zones are added and
named block by block, with some
streets in a single neighborhood
containing two zones.
Current PPP program is difficult to administer.
Zone names and boundaries are confusing.
4. Police Department does not yet
have the capabilities to broadly
enforce PPPs using automated
license plate readers (ALPR).
PPPs require physical permits that can be easy
to forge, hard to transfer. City is not yet able to
introduce more dynamic parking regulations in
PPP zones. All PPP zones are binary. Parking
either allowed or disallowed during posted
times. City is unable to enforce unmetered time
limit zones or allow visitors to park without
going through the permit process with their
resident sponsor.
Some of these issues are due to restrictive language found in the RBMC, while other issues are due to the current administrative systems. For example, changes to the RBMC would be required to authorize designated staff to investigate whether a permit zone could be removed without petition of residents, subject to a public hearing by the PWSC. The RBMC would also need to be changed to authorize short-term PPP zones for public hearing 3 approval. Lastly, some desired changes to the PPP program may require additional parking enforcement resources, such as additional automated license plate readers (ALPR). The Police Department is looking to implement an online permit system and improved enforcement technologies in the next year or so. Improved technologies could allow the City to introduce creative PPP zone regulations that allow short-term (1-2 hour) public parking within the PPP zone, while exempting permit holders from short-term limits. This is common in other cities and reduces the need for visitor permits. Currently, all residents within a PPP zone must apply and pay for visitor permits for any vendors, friends, family, or others who visit their homes during restricted parking periods.
At this time, staff recommends consideration of the following changes to the PPP Program:
1. Clarify and affirm the City Manager or designee’s authority to bring forward the addition, revision, or removal of a PPP zone to the PWSC for consideration via public hearing. (This is the first step to address obsolete zones and the effects of seasonal events zones.)
2. Establish annual limits for one-day visitor permits.
3. Establish a limit on the number of PPPs per address/dwelling unit.
4. Continue transition to an online-based, license plate-based parking permit system as resources allow. (Stickers would no longer be required, but additional funding may be required to implement ALPR more widely across the Parking Enforcement Unit. This change is in the planning stages.)
5. Organize the City into administrative parking districts to simplify the number of PPP zones. Streets that meet RBMC PPP zone thresholds and are approved for preferential parking would join the parking district. The inclusion of PPP zones will allow for permit parking for special events such as Seaside Holiday Lights in Torrance or BeachLife concerts. Each parking district would largely correspond to a single permit type/zone. Some parking districts may contain additional permit types for special circumstances like employee permits. (Santa Monica, Culver City, Inglewood and West Hollywood are among the various cities in the region that are divided into parking districts.)
Staff is soliciting additional input from the public and the Commission as it develops recommendations for reconsideration of the RBMC’s parking permit programs in conjunction with the Police Department and for potential consideration by the City Council.
COORDINATION:
Coordination of this report took place within the Public Works Department and with the Police Department.
Prepared by:
Ryan Liu, Principal Transportation Engineer
Submitted by:
Andrew Winje, Public Works Director
4 ATTACHMENTS:
1 – Existing Preferential Parking Permit Zones
2 – Police Parking Enforcement Unit Comments
Coordinate System: NAD 1983 StatePlane California V FIPS 0405 Feet Exported:6/3/2025 !
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BNSF RR
BNSF RR
GRANT AVE
S PACIFIC C OAST HWY
S PACIFIC COAST HWY
N PACIFIC COAST HWY
KNOB HILL AVE
KNOB HILL AVE
PACIFIC COAST HWY
DEL AMO ST
DEL AMO ST
ANITA ST
DIAMOND ST
N
S
E
P
U
L
V
E
D
A
B
L
V
D
N
S
E
P
U
L
V
E
D
A
B
L
V
D
ARTESIA BLVD
N
HARBOR
DR
N
HARBOR
DR
A
INGLEWOOD AVE
VIATION
B
LV
D
AVIATION
B
LV
D
TORRANC E
T
BLVD
ORRANCE BLVD
PALOS VERDES BLVD
PALOS VERDES BLVD
ESPLANADE
182ND ST
N
CATA
L
I
NA
AVE
N
CATA
L
I
NA
AVE
BERYL ST
BERYL ST
S
C
ATA
L
NI A
AV
E
S
C
ATA
L
NI A
AV
E
CAMINO REAL
CAMINO REAL
MANHATTAN BEACH BLVD
HAWTHORNE BLVD
N
P
R
O
S
P
E
CT
AV
E
N
P
R
O
S
P
E
CT
AV
E
S
B
R
O
A
D
WAY
S
B
R
O
A
D
WAY
MARINE AVE
190TH ST
S
P
R
O
S
P
E
C
T
AV
E
S
P
R
O
S
P
E
C
T
AV
E
HERONDO ST
HERONDO ST
Beryl
Heights
School
Birney
School
Valor
Christian
Academy
Jefferson
School
Lincoln
School
Madison
School
Tulita
School
South
Bay
Adult
School
(SBAS)
Adams
Middle
School
Transit
Center
AES
USPS
USPS
Northrop
Grumman
South
Bay
Galleria
Beach
Cities
Health
District
SCE
R/W
SCE
R/W
SCE
R/W
Pier
So
Cal
Gas
Cal
Water
Wylie
Sump
Riviera
Village
City
Hall
The
Kensington
§¨¦405
Seaside
Lagoon
Czuleger
Hopkins
Wilderness
Perry
Franklin
Veterans
Alta
Vista
Anderson
Aviation
Dominguez
MANHATTAN BEACH
HERMOSA BEACH
MANHATTAN BEACH
REDONDO BEACH
LAWNDALE
TORRANCE
LAWNDALE
REDONDO BEACH
TORRANCE
REDONDO BEACH
HERMOSA BEACH
REDONDO BEACH
Permit Zones
8 AM - 10 PM : Every Day
7 PM - 6AM : Every Day
8 PM - 3 AM : Every Day
10 PM - 3 AM : Every Day
24 Hrs : Everyday
6 AM - 6 PM Mon-Fri
8 AM - 6 PM Mon-Fri
8 AM - 10 PM Mon - Fri
2 PM - 10 PM Mon-Fri, 8
AM - 10 PM Sat
10 AM - 8PM Seasonal,
Nov. 15 - Dec. 31
Preferential Parking Zones
±
1 Ryan Liu
From: Nicole Merrill
Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2025 10:52
To: Ryan Liu
Cc: Brian Long; MSO
Subject: RE: Preferential parking
Hi Ryan,
The timing of potential changes to the PPP could be ideal as we are working on transitioning to an online portal for permit distribution. With this residents would upload their documents, staff would verify submissions, and once approved residents would pay and come in person to pick up. Below are my thoughts on potential changes to PPP.
The ability to create PPP for large scale events may be beneficial. There is a possibility of backlash from the residents in the permitted zones near the high school. When there are large scale public events in this area ( graduation and K9 Show) city council exempts the permits. The ability to allow the City Engineer to add, modify, or remove areas is needed. An example of an zone that should be removed would be the “Holiday Permits “ in the area of the Galleria, which no longer creates spillover parking in the adjacent neighborhood. The continuance of this permit creates an inconvenience for the residents and an unnecessary task with expenses for supplies for staff. Larger permit areas instead of multiple permits in the same area. Example V and V2 permits. I currently have one unit with an ALPR, which would be insufficient equipment to move to all virtual permits However, it would allow for the enforcement of timed areas within a zone. An example of this would be allowing one hour unpermitted parking in the area of the high school for school business.
Current RBMC allows for each applicant to receive a permit for each vehicle registered at the address within the zone. I would recommend establishing a defined limit on this.
I also would change the term “Visitor Permit” to “Transferable Permit”. Visitor permit causes confusion with the residents, who often think they can apply for this permit without showing any documentation.