Restoring the Sunset – Beach Parking Hours Extended

Every week, Next republishes one (or two) articles included in City Manager Oliver Chi’s update to staff and stakeholders.

For years, residents and visitors have raised the same simple frustration with the City’s beach parking operation… they couldn’t park in time to actually watch the sunset! With the current 8 p.m. closing time for most beach lots in summer – and 6 p.m. in winter – many people arriving for the most iconic experience Santa Monica offers were finding the lots already closed.

Thanks to work of our DOT / parking team, effective Friday, May 1, that’s changing! DOT’s Parking Division is administratively extending closing time for all beach parking lots (except Annenberg and Lot 1 North, which are unaffected) from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. for the summer and the remainder of daylight saving time. The change responds directly to longstanding feedback from residents, beach passholders, and downtown businesses, and was developed in consultation with the City Attorney’s Office and SMPD. The current Municipal Code and signage rely on the famously vague phrase “sunrise to sunset,” language which the planned changes begin to clarify in practice and the broader proposal will clean up in code.

Concurrently, a more comprehensive update is being prepared for Council consideration next month, which would do the following:

1. Make the extended hours permanent across all beach lots
2. Reframe “summer hours” and “winter hours” to align with daylight saving time transitions rather than fixed calendar dates to more accurately reflect what the rule is trying to accomplish
3. Extend Lot 1 South (just south of the Pier, next to Hot Dog on a Stick) all the way to 11 p.m. year-round to align with actual Pier business operating hours Together, these changes are expected to support increased Pier and beachfront economic activity while making one of Santa Monica’s most defining experiences – watching the sun set over the Pacific – actually accessible to the people who come here for it. An overview of the planned adjustments include:

A small change in the immediate term, a meaningful operational improvement coming soon, and a reminder that some of the best things the City can do for residents are the ones that come straight from listening to them! Kudos to our DOT team for getting this adjustment coordinated, and more to come on this front soon!

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Oliver Chi

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