SR-10-14-2014-7GCity Council Meeting: October 14, 2014
•, ,, -
To: Mayor and City Council
From: David Martin, Director of Planning and Community Development
Subject: Introduction and First Reading of an Ordinance adding Section 4.08.810 to
the Santa Monica Municipal Code Prohibiting Selling, Leasing or
Reserving for Compensation of Public Spaces in the City
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council introduce for first reading an ordinance
prohibiting the selling, leasing or reserving for compensation, or facilitate the selling,
leasing or reserving for compensation, any street, sidewalk, alley, parkway, parking
space, or other public space, without authorization from the City.
Executive Summary
On September 9, 2014, the City received a Business License application from
MonkeyParking, Inc., based in San Francisco, California, to operate a mobile app
service that allows users to tell other users they are leaving a street parking space and
accept payment in exchange for leaving said space. This type of service sells access to
a public asset and has a negative impact on traffic circulation and safety. Staff is
recommending that Council adopt an ordinance prohibiting any entity other than the City
of Santa Monica from selling, leasing, or reserving any public space, as defined by the
Santa Monica Municipal Code. In accordance with the LUCE, staff is making progress
towards implementing wayfinding solutions that do not require the private sale of public
parking spaces.
Background
On September 9, 2014, the City of Santa Monica received a business license
application from MonkeyParking, Inc. ( "MonkeyParking ") to provide peer -to -peer bidding
services for on- street parking spaces. At its request, the company met with Business
License and Traffic & Parking staff the same day. The company submitted a letter with
its business license application stating its interest in establishing a pilot program in
Santa Monica and to share revenue with the City.
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The MonkeyParking service connects users by allowing them to enter the location of
where they are parked, or where they want to park, into the app. A user looking for a
parking space bids on one that is about to be vacated. The person selling the space
then sells it to the highest bidder, holding it until the bidder arrives. A fee is paid to the
person selling the space automatically through the app after the bidder has parked in
the space, with MonkeyParking keeping a commission on each transaction. According
to the company, fees currently range from $5 to $10, but theoretically can go as high as
a person is willing to pay depending on demand. Users leaving their parking spaces are
effectively auctioning the parking space they are occupying, reserving it only for the
person that is willing to pay the highest price for access to it. The service creates a
private market for public parking spaces, and encourages drivers to use their mobile
devices unsafely while driving to engage in online bidding competitions and in some
cases to text while driving to communicate about the transaction.
Technology has given rise to new ways of solving problems and delivering services. In
particular, mobile application software ( "mobile apps ") that run on smartphones, tablets,
and other devices, provide users with tools for general productivity and information
retrieval (e.g. email, calendars, contacts) as well as newer, more sophisticated location -
based services that use a person's location to control features such as Waze
(community -based traffic), Uber (vehicles for hire), ParkMe (parking availability), and
now MonkeyParking.
MonkeyParking debuted in San Francisco in April 2014. Since its launch, the company
has been the subject of a significant amount of attention from the public, the press, and
city officials. According to press accounts, the company also experienced a backlash
from the public, fearful that the service would increase the cost of parking and in some
situations limit parking spaces to drivers who can afford to pay a premium. The San
Francisco City Attorney issued a cease - and - desist order to MonkeyParking, as well as
Sweetch and ParkModo, companies that offer similar services. More information
regarding other companies offering similar services is discussed below.
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In its June 23, 2014 press release, the San Francisco City Attorney cited local law that
already prohibited the buying, selling, or leasing of public on- street parking. The City
Attorney also cited California's Unfair Competition Law. The company was ordered to
cease operations by July 11, 2014. Although the company initially resisted these
demands, a posting on its MonkeyParking Blog on July 11, 2014 announced that "The
bidding service has been temporary [sic] disabled in SF."
The company claims that it is only exchanging information— not selling or reserving
parking spaces. Monkey Parking CEO Paolo Dobrowolny is quoted in an article on
SFGate published on June 24, 2014 stating that "We're just providing information when
someone is leaving... that is valuable information for everybody." According to the
author, Mr. Dobrowolny claimed that MonkeyParking was only a facilitator between
those looking for parking spaces and those who need some incentive to leave a space.
Other parking apps that provide essentially the same service as MonkeyParking,
include:
Sweetch SF
After being issued the cease - and - desist order, the company suspended its service in
San Francisco. The fee for the service was a flat rate of $5 with Sweetch charging a $1
fee for each transaction.
ParkModo
The company has suspended its service in San Francisco but continues to operate in
New York City and Chicago. The user selling the parking space sets the opening
bidding price. The fee charged by ParkModo is unknown.
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Haystack
The service has been available in Baltimore, Maryland since May 2014, and is currently
operating. Haystack launched in Boston, Massachusetts in July 2014; however, the City
Council took quick action and passed an ordinance on August 20, 2014 to effectively
prohibit these types of services from operating. The company suspended its service in
Boston immediately. The fee for the service is $3.00 with Haystack charging a $0.75 fee
for each transaction.
The City of Santa Monica supports innovation and is home to many innovative
companies including location -based mobile apps ParkMe and Uber. This ordinance
would not reflect a rejection of innovation, but rather would address potential circulation
and safety issues created by such a service when users reserve on- street parking
spaces and engage in online bidding wars while driving, which ultimately can increase
parking costs for drivers and negatively impact safety and circulation. This problem
would be exacerbated as other companies offering similar services begin operating in
the Santa Monica market. Whether intentional or not, the behaviors encouraged by
these apps are rooted in the very nature of the services they provide.
The ordinance would also protect access to on- street parking, a public asset, for drivers
in Santa Monica, and is intended to prevent the cordoning -off of a public asset solely for
private gain, ultimately restricting access to the highest bidder.
Council has the exclusive authority and jurisdiction to regulate parking spaces within the
City of Santa Monica. The Planning and Community Development Department
administers traffic and parking regulations and collects parking fees established by
Council. There are currently 5,862 on- street metered parking spaces throughout the
City. Private entities, such as MonkeyParking and other businesses offering similar
services, charging additional fees to access these spaces interferes with Council's
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authority to establish rates and manage public assets in such a manner that best serves
the interests of the community, including residents, workers, businesses, and visitors.
The reserving or holding of on- street parking spaces may cause delays for other drivers
seeking on- street parking, either because drivers choose not to utilize, or do not have
access to, the service the person holding the parking space is using. As these drivers
seek out an on- street parking space, they may be denied access to an otherwise
available space because the person occupying it is reserving it for a driver who can
afford to pay a premium to have it reserved until they arrive. Reserving the parking
space could also cause the person occupying the space to stay longer than the posted
time limit allows. During busy times, this activity could cause motorists to become
confrontational.
The Police Department supports prohibiting these activities due to the potential public
safety issues from the additional distractions created by the bidding process. Distracted
driving is a significant contributor to the cause of traffic collisions state wide. Using this
application may cause a driver to use a smart phone while operating a motor vehicle,
which is a violation of the California Vehicle Code. Additionally, because parking
spaces are available on a first come, first served basis, the service proposed by
MonkeyParking may lead to increased confrontations between drivers as they attempt
to access public spaces that are being reserved for the highest bidder.
The experiences in other cities support staff's belief that these services would result in
these behaviors in Santa Monica should the services begin to operate. For example, in
a May 8, 2014 article in WIRED magazine, the article described the CEO of
MonkeyParking using the service as follows:
Last month, Paolo Dobrowolny — one of the guys who created it —
used the app to pay $5 for a public parking spot on the street in San
Francisco's Mission District. Dobrowolny entered his credit card
number, clicked a green button on the app, and connected with
another MonkeyParker who had parked in the spot earlier that morning
",
but was getting ready to leave it. This person waited for Dobrowolny
to show up in his blue Ford — even though Dobrowolny was five
minutes late, thanks to traffic — and then pulled out to let him
park. (emphasis added)
In a September 12, 2014 article in the Santa Monica Daily Press, the writer noted that
"Dobrowolny said MonkeyParking provides a predictive service and the brokered
system guarantees a space will actually be available when a driver arrives."
(emphasis added)
ParkModo, another app forced to suspend its service in San Francisco, continues to
operate in New York City and Chicago. On the company's web site it refers to the
transaction in terms of "purchasing" a parking space. The web site states "You have
purchased the spot," "Upon arriving at the spot, simply notify the seller via the app," and
"Once your spot is purchased, you will get a SMS confirmation." The web site also
instructs users: "When a buyer notifies you that they have arrived, visually confirm they
are there and reply to let them know you are leaving." This clearly requires that the
parking space be reserved until such time the person paying for access arrives to take
possession and that the two parties communicate via text.
In a June 27, 2014 article in the San Francisco Business Times, it was reported that
ParkModo had posted an employment listing on Craigslist promising to pay drivers $13
per hour to occupy public parking spaces, set sales prices, and in turn sell the spaces to
paying users of its app. According to the article the advertisement stated:
Our company is launching an awesome app that rewards people to sell
their on- street parking spots before leaving to people who need a spot.
To help us promote the app, we are looking for 20 people with cars
and iPhones to park around the mission and use the app to offer their
parking spots to people looking for parking. The hours will be from
5:30 -9:00 pm Thurs -Sat starting June 26th.
According to a May 23, 2014 article in The Atlantic CityLab, "While the bidding system
certainly favors those with more money to spare, it's also how MonkeyParking plans to
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gather data on how much various parking spaces are really worth at different times of
the day." According to the article, with this parking data, "Dobrowolny says
MonkeyParking could, for example, run an algorithm that automatically generates bids."
MonkeyParking claims on its website that its service tracks a user's location and speed,
which allows them to "identify and ban people holding spots by standing still on them."
The company also claims on its website that its behavior feature limits "the number of
daily transaction [sic] a single user can make," preventing someone from using the app
as a form of job. However, this does not address the circulation and public safety
issues surrounding the online bidding for on- street parking spots while driving, and the
holding of on- street parking spots until the on- street parking spot has been sold,
because a seller is not paid until the user paying for access has successfully parked in
the space. This not only encourages users on one end of the transaction to use their
mobile phones while driving and for users on the other end of the transaction to occupy
a parking space until a fee has been paid, but the fundamental business model is
dependent on these activities.
Alternative Parking Apps and Wayfinding Projects
The market currently has a number of parking apps with varying business models.
Drivers in Santa Monica currently have access to the mobile app "ParkMe," which
provides free, real -time parking availability at public and private parking structures. The
system also gives general availability information for on- street metered parking by
block, not space (e.g. "2200 Ocean Av (Even) 38% Full). The app also provides rates
based on day and time. For some private lots, a driver may also reserve parking
through the app. In addition to ParkMe, the market currently offers solutions that are
designed to integrate with parking resources through data sharing with the owners of
the parking resources, such as Parker, BestParking, Parkwiz, and Parking Panda.
These options provide similar services to the public as companies such as
MonkeyParking without creating an auction for public parking spaces.
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Another type of app is Pango Mobile Parking. Instead of assisting a driver with finding
parking, the app allows a user to use a pay -by -phone service to pay for parking fees at
garages and meters. The user pays for, extends, or ends a parking session through the
app on his /her phone. When the user's parking session is about to expire, Pango sends
a reminder, helping the user to avoid receiving a parking citation.
The City has adopted policy guidance for parking management in the Land Use and
Circulation Element (LUCE). The LUCE includes Goals T22 and T24 which endeavor to
provide adequate parking through the day for residents and visitors, respectively. The
LUCE sets a parking availability target of 15 percent (policies T22.1 and T24.1) and
recommends various strategies such as using pricing (policy T24.2) and using real -time
signage and apps to help motorists find available spaces (policy T24.3).
Staff is making progress on several projects that advance these policies. The Real -Time
Beach Parking project will install 20 signs in the City to direct beachgoers to available
parking spaces. A similar project is under development for motorists in Downtown Santa
Monica. Finally, the City has secured grant funds and entered into a contract with Civic
Resource Group to produce a comprehensive multi -modal wayfinding system for the
City including app and web -based trip planning tools, real -time traveler information
systems, and dynamic and static signage. Among other things, the app component of
the system will provide real -time parking availability and pricing information for on- and
off - street public parking resources and directions to the selected parking option. These
projects will help motorists find available parking more expeditiously and reduce the
congestion and pollution effects associated with cruising for available parking spaces.
Public Space
Staff has taken this opportunity to review the general issue of privatization of public
spaces for commercial gain. It appears that any privatization of public spaces, without
City authorization, can generate much of the same concerns as discussed above.
Thus, the proposed ordinance provides the City with the tools necessary to address any
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attempt to cordon off any public space (including but not limited to parking spaces) for
private sale or rental without City authorization. Thus, the protection contained the
ordinance extends to all public assets including the beach, parks, street medians,
parking structures /lots, and other public facilities, in order to ensure fair and equitable
access to the entire public.
Financial Impacts & Budget Actions
There is no immediate financial impact or budget action necessary as a result of the
recommended action.
Prepared by: Salvador M. Valles, Business & Revenue Operations Manager
Jason Kligier, AICP, Transportation Planning Associate
Approved:
Attachments:
A. Ordinance
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Forwarded to Council:
Rod Gould
v
City Manager
Council Meeting: October 14, 2014
ORDINANCE NUMBER (CCS)
(City Council Series)
Santa Monica, California
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
ADDING SECTION 4.08.810 OF THE SANTA MONICA MUNICIPAL CODE
PROHIBITING SELLING, LEASING OR RESERVING FOR COMPENSATION OF
PUBLIC SPACES IN THE CITY
WHEREAS, the City consists of just eight square miles of coastal land which is
home to 90,000 residents, the job site of 300,000 workers, and a destination for as
many as 500,000 visitors on weekends and holidays; and
WHEREAS, the City's public spaces are often heavily utilized by residents,
workers and visitors; and
WHEREAS, the City's unusual density necessitates special efforts to preserve
the free and safe flow of pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular traffic; and
WHEREAS, the City has consistently adopted laws and regulations that ensure
all members of the public have equal and fair access to use of public streets, public
spaces and public properties; and
WHEREAS, selling, leasing or reserving for compensation of public streets,
public spaces and public properties by private parties, without City authorization,
hinders the City's long standing policy of equal and fair public access to public
resources; and
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WHEREAS, selling, leasing or reserving for compensation of public streets,
public spaces and public properties by private parties, without City authorization, can
disrupt circulation, creates potentially confrontational situations, and increases the risk
of traffic collisions; and
WHEREAS, selling, leasing or reserving for compensation of public streets,
public spaces and public properties by private parties, without City authorization, also
interferes with the City's authority to establish rental rates and manage public assets in
such a manger that best serves the interests of the community.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA MONICA
DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Section 4.08.810 of the Santa Monica Municipal Code is hereby
added to read as follows:
4.08.810 Prohibition Of Selling, Leasing Or Reserving For Compensation Of
Public Streets And Spaces
(a) No person shall sell, lease, or reserve for compensation, or facilitate the
selling, leasing or reserving for compensation, any street sidewalk alley parkway,
public parking space, public space or public property, without authorization from the
City.
(b) Any person violating this Section shall be quiltV of an infraction, which
shall be punishable bV a fine not exceeding two hundred fifty dollars or a misdemeanor,
which shall be punishable bV a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars per violation, or
bV imprisonment in the County Jail for a period not exceedinq six months or by both
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such fine and imprisonment Any person convicted of violating any provision of this
Chapter shall be ordered to reimburse the CitV its full investigative costs.
Section 2. Any provision of the Santa Monica Municipal Code or appendices
thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such
inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary
to effect the provisions of this Ordinance.
Section 3. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or phrase of this
Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of any
court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the
remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would
have passed this Ordinance and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause,
or phrase not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any portion
of the ordinance would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
Section 4. The Mayor shall sign and the City Clerk shall attest to the passage of
this Ordinance. The City Clerk shall cause the same to be published once in the official
newspaper within 15 days after its adoption. This Ordinance shall become effective 30
days from its adoption.
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
I
MA ,HA ES MOU RIE
City ttor
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