Santa Monica Daily Press, August 04, 2009

Page 1

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Volume 8 Issue 233

Santa Monica Daily Press THE 411 ON CASH FOR CLUNKERS SEE PAGE 6

We have you covered

THE MAKING BEAUTIFUL MUSIC TOGETHER ISSUE

Council to consider raising parking rates

Residents react to plane crash

BY MELODY HANATANI BY MELODY HANATANI

Daily Press Staff Writer

Daily Press Staff Writer

CITY HALL Parking in Downtown public garages could soon force visitors to dig deeper into their wallets. The City Council next month is expected to take up the question of whether to increase rates at Structures 1-9 along Second and Fourth streets as per recommendations outlined in a recent study about parking occupancy in private and public facilities. The suggestion by Walker Parking Consultants is to increase the maximum daily rate for parking from $7 to $9, raise the evening prices for vehicles entering after 6 p.m. from $3 to $5, the monthly permits from $82.50 to $121, and reduce the free two-hour daytime parking to one hour. The consultants will make a presentation about the study to the council at its meeting. The Bayside District Corp. board of directors recently made a motion to support the increases with the condition that City Hall hire a parking czar who would be dedicated to such issues in Downtown. The board decided not to back the recommendation to reduce one free daytime hour. Kathleen Rawson, the executive director for Bayside, a public-private management company that helps City Hall manage and promote Downtown, said that the revenue from the rate increases would help pay for the parking czar as well as improving parking and access in the heart of the city. “We believe that parking is such a major issue for anyone who lives, works or plays in Downtown Santa Monica,” Rawson said. “It’s top of mind for everyone and it has to be handled well and it can’t be in addition to someone else’s other job.” In the report released late last month, the consultant found that there was a significant number of private and public spaces that remained unoccupied even during peak hours because of substantially under market pricing at the public garages, which left visitors competing for the most conveniently located and cheapest structures. There are public garages that do remain underutilized, including the Civic Center Garage. The consultant suggested running a shuttle between the garage and the Third Street Promenade. SEE PARKING PAGE 10

SM AIRPORT Lloyd Saunders was hard at

organ music to be exact. Installation began Saturday of a 1920s Wurlitzer organ donated to the recently

work in the garden when he heard it. Lynn Barker was enjoying an afternoon outside with her husband when the sound caught their attention. All looked up and saw and heard the same thing — a small plane struggling overhead, sputtering, going out of sight and then silence. They knew the fate of the plane. “I didn’t go over to the airport because I had figured what had happened,” Saunders, who lives on Hill Street just north of the airport, said. The plane, a single-engine Long-EZ, departed from Santa Monica Airport around 2:45 p.m. on Sunday for a local flight, losing engine power immediately after. The pilot turned around and attempted to make an emergency landing when the plane crashed on the runway and skidded off. The pilot and only person on board, William Davenport of Los Angeles, was transported to a nearby hospital where he was still being treated for injuries as of Monday afternoon. Officials said the injuries appear not to be life threatening. The runway was closed for about five hours following the crash for crews to comb through debris, reopening around 8 p.m., Ian Gregor, the spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the accident, a process that is expected to take several months. Barker, who lives on Warren Avenue just a few blocks south of the airport, described the panic that she and her husband felt as they heard the plane sputter, running to the front of the house and wondering where the plane would fall. “This went on for a minute and then it stalled completely and there was silence,” Barker said. “We were honestly waiting for a crash and it never came.” She jumped in the car and drove to the airport, snapping some photos of the crash scene. “Thank god he was an experienced pilot because he did the right thing,” Barker, who also

SEE ORGAN PAGE 8

SEE CRASH PAGE 8

Brandon Wise brandonw@smdp.com

CLEANING THE PIPES: Brett Fehlman from the Crome Organ Co. out of Reno, Nev. works on setting up the Wurlitzer pipe organ inside Santa Monica High School's Barnum Hall on Monday afternoon. The organ was donated to the school as part of restoration effort.

Organ donor gives life to Barnum Hall BY NATALIE JARVEY Special to the Daily Press

SAMOHI The walls of Barnum Hall will soon echo with the sound of

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