SEAL BEACH : Debate Over Main St. Meters to Air on TV

The debate over whether there should be parking meters on Main Street will be on the air this week.

Councilman William J. Doane, guest host on “City Watch Live,” a local community affairs cable-TV show at 7 p.m. Thursday, will lead a panel discussion on pros and cons of the meters.

The city is revamping its Main Street Specific Plan and looking to change parking regulations to boost city revenue and increase downtown-area parking.

Council members will consider dropping flat fees charged at the beachside parking lot in favor of hourly fees. But there are concerns that, without parking meters on Main Street, beach-goers would fill parking places in front of businesses instead of using the beach lot, Doane said, and “this definitely hurts the businesses.”

Mayor Marilyn Bruce Hastings has said she would consider parking meters only if the city were forced to repeal its utility tax. A recent state Supreme Court ruling has left the constitutionality of some local taxes in doubt.

Otherwise, Hastings said, it’s a matter of aesthetics. “Parking meters really don’t fit in with our small-town type of village atmosphere,” the mayor said.

But Doane said the city should consider a new system used in parts of Huntington Beach that uses centralized payment machines instead of individual meters.

Council members have delayed reviewing recommendations for the Main Street plan until new City Manager Keith Till arrives Nov. 13.

“There seems to be a lot of controversy that we’re losing revenues by not having the meters on Main Street,” Councilman George Brown said. “But they’re ugly, they’re unattractive, and they’ll spoil the quaintness of Seal Beach.”