Council Gives Auto Dealers Some Parking Relief

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

May 11 -- Although recent laws have led to a détente between auto dealers and nearby residents, the City Council Tuesday decided to tweak two remaining points of contention: rooftop parking incentives and on-site parking for employees.

After deciding unanimously to keep incentives that encourage auto dealers to build rooftop parking at their dealership locations for more efficient use of space on the sites, council members gave dealers – already crunched for space – an a-la-carte menu of how best to provide mandatory parking for their employees and customers.

Up until now, auto dealers – who boast scores of employees and countless customers – have been required to provide free on-site parking to keep spill over parking in adjacent neighborhoods to a minimum.

Calling it “detriment to sales,” the former owner of Simonson Mercedes-Benz, Bill Rehwald, and other auto dealers who testified urged the council to give them more flexibility to determine how to best use lots on and off site.

“By requiring employee parking next door to show rooms is a terrible waste,” said Rehwald, noting instances where buyers have decided to stall their decision to buy a car because they had to have an employee get a car out of storage at a remote site.

At larger auto malls in cities such as Santa Ana, the cars are kept on site along with all the parking for customers and employees.

“It’s a real challenge to do business here in Santa Monica,” said Rehwald.

Hearing such concerns, the council agreed to give dealerships -- which according to City sales taxes are one of Santa Monica’s key economic engines -- the right to determine how best to use their lot spaces with conditions.

Dealers may be exempt from the free on-site employee-parking requirement if the dealer is complying with ride-sharing goals set by the City and has a City staff-approved shuttle plan for offsite parking.

If there is no shuttle plan, the dealers could have an off-site parking facility on a convenient bus line and provide transit passes.

Finally, dealers may be able to use surface lots adjacent to their showrooms for inventory storage if they are in compliance with goals related to the city’s current ride-share policy.