National City Municipal Code Ch. 11.33 Parking Meters

A. The City Engineer, by ordinance of the city council, and pursuant to the provisions of CVC Section 22508, may establish parking meter zones to aid in the regulation, control and inspection of the parking of vehicles and/or to increase utilization and turnover to support local businesses and economic development. Metered blocks within designated parking meter zones shall be established based on parking surveys of streets or portions of streets that demonstrate a parking occupancy rate of eighty percent or greater during the time of survey.

B. Upon authorization by the city council, the City Engineer or Director of Public Works shall cause parking meters or pay stations to be installed, paid parking spaces to be designated, and required signage to be displayed within parking meter zones, as hereinafter provided. Modifications or elimination of parking meter zones shall be established by amendments to ordinance of the city council.

C. The regulation of traffic by parking meters or pay stations and the use of any approved method of payment in such meters shall become effective upon the installation of appropriate parking meters or pay stations and signs thereon, giving notice of such paid parking regulation and rate.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

Parking meter zones are hereby designated upon those public streets or portions of streets described herein in which parking of vehicles shall be regulated by parking meters or pay stations between the hours and on days specified in Section 11.33.060:

1. National City Boulevard to the west, Highland Avenue to the east, 18th Avenue to the south, and 7th Avenue to the north.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

A. It is the intent of the city council to establish a target utilization rate of eighty percent for all parking meters and pay stations within the city. Utilization rate refers to the amount of time that vehicles occupy a paid parking space during the allowed hours of operation of the parking meter or pay station. The establishment of the target utilization rate of eighty percent is based on well-accepted parking management studies and review of targets established by other municipalities. The city council finds that the establishment of the target utilization rate of eighty percent is one of the most effective strategies for managing on-street parking and for recovering at least a portion of the estimated reasonable costs associated with parking, traffic control and management impacting the parking of vehicles within parking meter zones.

B. Under the authority of CVC Section 22508, the city council establishes a paid parking rate of twenty-five cents for each fifteen minute interval up to the maximum legal time limit established for each parking meter or pay station. Said rate shall be and remain in effect, unless modified by amendments to ordinance of the city council. The City Engineer or Director of Public Works shall cause to be programmed all parking meters and pay stations within designated parking meter zones the established rates for deposit of funds.

C. When any vehicle is parked in any space alongside of or next to a single-space parking meter which is located in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, or when any vehicle is parked in any space or zone adjacent to which a multi-space pay station is located in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, the operator of said vehicle shall, upon entering said parking space or zone, immediately cause to immediately purchase time using an approved method of payment, according to the time interval desired within the maximum limit and at the displayed parking rates.

D. Time limits for parking meters and pay stations shall be established at intervals of fifteen minutes not to exceed a maximum of two hours for single vehicle use during the hours and days specified in Section 11.33.040. The City Engineer is authorized to establish shorter maximum time limits on streets or portions of streets within parking meter zones based on evaluation of parking demand, parking utilization, type and operations of adjacent land uses, and other relevant factors. Time limits shall be clearly displayed consistent with the requirements of Section 11.33.050.

E. During a fiscal year, the City Engineer or Director of Public Works may adjust pay station and meter rates up or down twenty-five cents per hour based on average occupancy rates in order to achieve a target occupancy rate of eighty percent. Any increase over twenty-five cents per hour in a fiscal year shall require City Council approval.

F. Unless otherwise permitted by signs, no person shall stop, stand, or park a vehicle in a parking meter zone between the hours designated within the parking meter zone of any day for longer than the prescribed period. For the purposes of this section, the term parking meter zone means an area in which signs, parking meters or curb markings prescribe a designated period for parking of vehicles.

G. When temporary special parking or traffic conditions require different hours or days of parking restrictions, the City Engineer or Director of Public Works may vary the hours and days during which the restrictions in the parking meter zones shall be in effect; and, when authorized signs are in place giving notice thereof, no person shall stop, stand, or park any vehicle contrary to the direction or provisions of such signs.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

A. Parking meters and pay stations shall be operated in parking meter zones every day between the hours of eight o'clock a.m. and six o'clock p.m., except Sundays and holidays. Modifications to hours of operation of parking meters shall be established by amendments to ordinance of the city council.

B. The City Engineer or Director of Public Works may set and adjust the time period of operation of parking meters before eight o'clock a.m., but no earlier than seven o'clock a.m., and later than six o'clock p.m., but no later than eleven o'clock p.m., every day except on Sundays and holidays, but in no event for a length of time less than ten hours each day, consistent with achieving the target utilization rate of eighty percent.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

A. The Director of Public Works is hereby authorized to install or place parking meters and pay stations with appropriate parking space markings and signage in such parking meter zones as designated in Section 11.33.020 and in accordance with the provisions of this chapter; and the Director of Public Works or designee is hereby directed to maintain said parking meters and pay stations, parking space markings and signage in good workable condition.

B. Single-space parking meters installed in parking meter zones established as provided in Section 11.33.010 shall be placed upon the curb immediately adjacent to individual parking spaces. The hours of operation and time limits shall be clearly displayed on the meter standards and/or posted on signs within the parking meter zone or portions thereof. Each single-space parking meter shall be placed or set in such manner as to display whether the parking space adjacent to that meter is legally in use or not. Upon purchase of time using an approved method of payment, each single-space parking meter shall be set to display the amount of time remaining for legal parking and shall continue to operate for that period of time not exceeding the limit of parking time which has been established for that space or zone. Upon the expiration of legal parking time, each single-space parking meter shall indicate by proper signal that the lawful parking period has expired.

C. Multi-space pay stations installed in parking meter zones established as provided in Section 11.33.010 shall be placed upon the curb immediately within the parking meter zone or portions thereof to which they apply. The hours of operation and time limits shall be posted on signs within the parking meter zone or portions thereof. Upon the purchase of time using an approved method of payment, a multi-space pay station shall either produce a receipt to be used by the parking user as proof of valid parking as described in Section 11.33.070, or electronically record the expiration of the time purchased for an individual parking space entered by the parking user, which may be checked for enforcement or other purposes. In order to be valid or otherwise considered effective. A vehicle is lawfully parked in a parking meter zone if:

1. Pay and Display. The vehicle displays a receipt which is legible to an enforcement officer, evidencing purchase of parking meter time at the posted parking rate and within the maximum time limit at the multi-space parking meter located immediately adjacent to the parking meter zone where the vehicle is parked. The receipt shall indicate the expiration of parking time, which shall be the equivalent of the expiration time indicated by the parking meter; or

2. Pay by Space. The vehicle is parked in a numerically designated parking space which has a multi-space parking meter that does not produce a receipt for display, but which indicates a valid parking time.

3. Pay by Plate. The license plate number is entered into the pay station on an alphanumeric keyboard that does not produce a receipt for display, but which indicates a valid parking time.

D. [Reserved.]

E. Pursuant to the provisions of CVC Section 22508, a local authority may accept but shall not require payment of parking meter fees by a mobile device.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

A. The Director of Public Works is instructed to have lines or markings painted or placed upon the curb or upon the street adjacent to each single-space parking meter for the purpose of designating the parking space for which said meter is to be used, and each vehicle parking alongside of or next to any single-space parking meter shall park within the lines or markings so established.

B. The Director of Public Works is instructed to have lines or markings painted or placed upon the curb or upon the street in any parking meter zone that is controlled by a multi-space parking meter that does not produce a receipt to be used by the parking user as proof of valid parking as described in Section 11.33.070.

C. No person shall park any vehicle across any line or marking or park said vehicle in such position that the same shall not be entirely within the area so designated by such lines or markings.

D. When a parking space in any parking meter zone is parallel to the adjacent curb or sidewalk, any vehicle parked in such parking space shall be parked so that the foremost part of such vehicle shall be alongside of and nearest the single-space parking meter except where the single-space parking meter is mounted to the rear of the parking space, in which case, any vehicle parked in such parking space shall be parked so that the rearmost part of such vehicle shall be alongside of and nearest the single-space parking meter.

E. When a parking space in any parking meter zone is diagonal to the curb or sidewalk, any vehicle parked in such parking space shall be parked with the foremost part of such vehicle directly at and nearest to such single-space meter except where the single-space parking meter is mounted to the rear of the parking space, in which case, any vehicle parked in such parking space shall be parked so that the rearmost part of such vehicle shall be directly at and nearest to such single-space parking meter.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

No person shall permit a vehicle to remain parked in any parking meter zone when the meter, receipt, card, or electronic device, as provided in Section 11.33.050, shows the parking time has expired.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

A. No person shall permit a vehicle to remain parked beyond the period of legal parking time established for any parking meter.

B. No person shall purchase time from any parking meter using any method of payment for the purpose of increasing or extending the parking time of any vehicle beyond the legal parking time which has been established for the parking space or zone adjacent to which said parking meter is placed.

C. It is unlawful for any person to re-park a vehicle under their control or in their custody within the same block face or parking facility after the expiration of the two-hour time limit. The vehicle may not return to the initial block face or parking facility sooner than two hours following the expiration of the initial time period.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

It shall be unlawful for and a violation of the provisions of this chapter for any unauthorized person to deface, injure, tamper with, open or willfully break, destroy or impair the usefulness of any parking meters installed under the provisions of this chapter.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

It shall be unlawful and a violation of the provisions of this chapter to deposit or cause to be deposited in any parking meter any slug, device or substitute for a lawful coin of the United States.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

No person, other than the owner or operator of a vehicle, shall deposit payment in any parking meter without the knowledge or consent of said owner or operator of the vehicle using the parking space regulated by such meter.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

No person other than an authorized employee of the City shall attach anything to a parking meter or parking meter standard. No person shall allow a bicycle, news rack or any other object to lean against a parking meter or a parking meter standard.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

The Director of Community Development is authorized to designate parking regulations officers, either employed by the city or under contract, to make regular collections of the coins deposited in the parking meters and deliver those coins collected to the city finance department for accounting.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)

All funds collected from parking meters in the city shall be placed in a special fund, which fund shall be devoted exclusively to any or all of the following purposes:

1. The purchasing, leasing, installing, inspecting, repairing, maintaining, operating, removing, regulating, enforcing, and managing of parking meters in the city and for the payment of any and all expenses relating or incidental thereto;

2. The proper regulation, control and inspection of parking and traffic upon the public streets;

3. The painting and marking of streets and curbs required for the direction of traffic and parking of motor vehicles;

4. The installation and maintenance of traffic control devices and signals;

5. Increasing the parking supply through purchasing, leasing, and acquiring of off-street parking facilities in the city, including inspecting, repairing, maintaining, operating, regulating, enforcing, and managing said facilities;

6. To be pledged as security for the payment of principal and interest on off-street parking facility revenue bonds issued by the city or parking authority.

7. Managing the existing parking inventory, including such measures as, but not limited to, parking evaluations, reconfiguration of existing on-street parking inventory, employee parking programs, reducing excessive red curb, removal of abandoned driveways and replacement with matching sidewalk, curb, and gutter, and mitigation of any adverse effects resulting from the implementation of such program.

8. Providing mobility (parking and access) information through wayfinding signage or media (maps, videos, apps or other tools), which communicates the location, availability, cost, and other pertinent information of parking options and provides navigation in and between in the parking meter zone.

9. Providing funding for community shuttles or circulator systems with the goals to connect passengers to and from the parking meter zone, to reduce parking demand in the meter zone and to assist in the mobility of those parked around the parking meter zone.

10. Enhancing mobility within the parking meter zone and facilitating the use of alternative forms of transportation to reduce parking demand (e.g., community shuttles, public transit, bicycling, and walking) through activities and improvements including, but not limited to, designing and installing: bike and pedestrian amenities (bike parking, corrals, and bike lanes; pedestrian ramps, crossings, pop-outs, sidewalks, countdown indicators, rectangular rapid flashing beacons); signage; and shuttle stops.

(Ord. No. 2023-2520, 4-18-2023)