Long Beach is offering parking relief like free off-street parking, complimentary meter times, and no street-sweeping citations until May 1 due to the stricter “safer at home” order for residents.
The “safer at home” order has been in place since late March and has prevented gatherings of any kind, enforced social distancing, and ordered residents to stay at home and not travel unless for essential trips, in order to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
In the press release issued March 21, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said, “We are looking at every way we can to make the inconveniences of this health emergency easier for residents.”
“The patterns of our daily lives will be different for the foreseeable future and it’s our hope that these parking measures will make one aspect of that less stressful,” Garcia said.
The street relief parking program beginning March 21 and, continuing through April 30, gives residents living in parking impacted neighborhoods the chance to apply for a free parking permit for one of the following local lots or garages:
Beach Lots
- Granada, 5100 E. Ocean Blvd.
- Junipero, 2100 E. Ocean Blvd
- Belmont, 3998 E. Allin St.
Garages
- City Place Garage A, 50 W. 6th St.
- City Place Garage B, 50 E. 5th St.
- City Place Garage C, 50 E. 3rd St.
- Pike Garage, 65 Cedar Ave.
- Aquarium Garage, 99 Aquarium Way
- Terrace Theater Garage, 300 E. Ocean Blvd.
The press release read, “Interested residents can email longbeach@lazparking.com to receive an application. Once completed and returned, a permit providing access to the location of their choice (if not already full) will be mailed to their home. Passes will be available on a first-come first-served basis.”
The press release stated a deadline to apply for parking on April 20, and Kate Kuykendall, a spokesperson for the City of Long Beach, provided further information on the parking program.
Kuykendall clarified that “Not all lots are full yet. The deadline is not April 20, there is no deadline so applications are ongoing.”
As to how long the free off-site lots will stay open, Kuykendall said, “Parking lots are remaining open as long as need be, we’ll keep evaluating as this public health crisis evolves.”
“Ticketing for street-parking will resume on May 1. Currently, it’s optional to move your car for street sweeping, but move your car if you have the ability to do so, it helps with cleanliness” said Kuykendall.
Jennifer Carey, community relations officer for the All Hazards Incident Management Team of Long Beach, gave details about the impact of the street relief program on the public works department in an emailed statement.
“Public Works has continued to perform weekly street sweeping operations citywide throughout the citation suspension for both residential and arterial streets and bike lanes,” Carey said.
As to whether lack of vehicle movement is impairing the ability of public works to perform cleanups, Carey said,“Similar to normal operations, street sweepers will go around vehicles and sweep where they are able to.”
“Many residents have still been moving their vehicles to accommodate street sweeping operations even with the citation suspension,” said Carey.
Whether the public works department will also continue to clean up after those living on the streets, Carey said, “The Public Works Clean Team continues to perform debris cleanups and illegally dumped item pickups citywide.”
In addition to halting street sweeping citations until May 1 and providing permits to free parking lots, the street parking relief program is also adding 15 minutes of courtesy time on parking meters.
The press release stated, “All on-street parking meters will allow for 15 minutes of free parking to accommodate those picking-up food from our local restaurants, while still having parking meters in effect to allow for turnover of spaces serving essential businesses.”
To claim the free 15 minutes of parking, press the green button on the parking meter.
Kuykendall clarified that the free parking is available not just on meters in the downtown area, but meters citywide.
In addition, to those who might have received a street-sweeping citation after March 21, contesting a violation remains the same, and can be done so by visiting the website longbeach.gov/parking/citations.
Though street-sweeping citations are being withheld, all other violations and parking enforcement laws will continue to be enforced.
For more information, call the parking office of Long Beach at (562) 570-8055.