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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2007
Volume 6 Issue 290
Santa Monica Daily Press CRAZY FOR SIR IAN SEE PAGE 10
Since 2001: A news odyssey
THE EXCHANGING HEATERS ISSUE
Paying up on Sunday mornings
BUSINESS
Meters will begin taking coins earlier along SM’s Main Street BY KEVIN HERRERA I Daily Press Staff Writer MAIN STREET Sunday drivers will have to start feeding the meters here earlier than they used to come January, thanks to a move by City Hall that is intended to free up more spaces along the bustling corridor. The plan is to begin enforcement hours for the 303 parking meters along Main Street at 9 a.m. on Sundays. At present, drivers can park for free until 1 p.m., a provision introduced years ago as a convenience to worshipers who attend four churches in the area, city staff said. Through the years, free parking has resulted in low turnover, creating intense congestion as people jostle for parking spots to attend the popular Main Street Farmers’ Market, go shopping or have brunch. The lack of available spaces also pushes drivers onto resiKevin Herrera kevinh@smdp.com dential streets in search of FEED THE METER: In January, free, but scarce, parking. Both residents and drivers will no longer be able to businesses in the area park for free along Main Street have expressed their con- until 1 p.m. on Sundays. cerns that the unnecessary circling on Sunday mornings poses a threat to public safety, promotes the wasteful use of gasoline and pollutes the air with vehicle emissions. A 2005 survey found that 54 percent of the 5,000 people who attend the Farmers’ Market each week drive there. “You see people doing crazy things, jockeying for parking spaces, circulating ad nauseam,” said Ted Winterer, president of the Ocean Park Association, an influential neighborhood group that lobbied for the change in parking, along with the Main Street Merchants Association. “I go every Sunday at 8:30 (a.m.) to play soccer in a league
STEPPING ASIDE Long-time shoe shop gets the boot from Wilshire Boulevard location STORY BY MELODY HANATANI PAGE 8 Morgan Genser news@smdp.com
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