SUMMARY
The City of Manhattan Beach is requesting proposals from experienced and qualified planning or engineering consultant firms to prepare a comprehensive Citywide Parking Management Study for on and off-street public parking in commercial areas of the City. The purpose of the Study is to quantify existing parking supply and demand; analyze current and anticipated parking demand in the Downtown, North End Business district and Citywide commercial areas; evaluate potential parking and curbside management strategies; and provide an implementable toolkit of strategies to efficiently manage multi-modal transportation needs now and in the near future.
The City expects that the consultant team will include expertise in parking demand and management analysis, parking data collection, traffic and/or transportation engineering and graphic design; knowledge of multi-modal transportation relationships and funding systems, parking asset management and wayfinding, parking infrastructure management, technology and planning; and experience with public outreach, surveys, and engagement.
BACKGROUND
The City of Manhattan Beach is located within the southwestern coastal portion of Los Angeles County in what is commonly referred to locally as the “South Bay” area. The City is bounded on the north by El Segundo, on the east and south by Redondo Beach, on the south by Hermosa Beach, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The City is a beach community with approximately 2.1 miles of beachfront. The City has a total land area of 1,788 acres (3.88 square miles). The City is generally bound by Rosecrans Avenue on the north, Aviation Boulevard on the east, Artesia Boulevard on the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Sepulveda Boulevard (State Highway 1) runs north-south through the middle of the City.
The City operates 14 public off-street parking facilities totaling over 1,500 spaces with a variety of metered, reserved, EV charging and permitted spaces, as well as over 500 street parking meters in five separate commercial areas. The five commercial areas to be studied include Downtown Manhattan Beach, North End Business District, Sepulveda Boulevard Corridor, Parkview Avenue and the east end of Manhattan Beach Boulevard. There are four separate parking permit programs for the public parking facilities primarily serving employees of the adjacent commercial businesses.
In the 1950’s and 1960’s, three parking districts were created in Downtown with the purpose to construct parking structures for business customers and employees. From the Districts’ establishment until their dissolution in 1984, commercial properties within the parking districts were exempt from on-site parking requirements. Additionally, in 1984, the land use codes were changed to allow small properties not exceeding a 1:1 building to land area ratio to remain exempt from on-site parking requirements in Downtown, while building areas exceeding 1:1 and/or exceeding 5,000 square feet are required to be parked at the current parking rates.
As a beach city, Manhattan Beach experiences its highest parking demand during the summer season, which is between Memorial Day and Labor Day, as well as during popular special events in Downtown and the North End business districts. During other times of the year, parking demand often exceeds operational capacity, and there is a perception that there is a “parking problem” because parking availability may not be conveniently located near the intended destination. In some areas, the commercial parking demand has spilled over into some residential neighborhoods.
The City conducted parking management studies in the Downtown area in 1984, 1990, 1998 and 2008. These studies will be used as reference in the development of this study. This comprehensive parking study will be a tool to assist the City in implementing a comprehensive parking solution for customers, visitors, employees and residents while improving the overall quality of life and preserving the City’s small beach town character.
