The City of Long Beach told residents that its parking consultants would return with recommendations "late in 2025" and that a final plan would reach the City Council in "early 2026." That timetable still appears on the City's parking plan page. The draft recommendations were scheduled for a public presentation on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the sixth floor of City Hall, according to the City's October 9 meeting notice.
The car counts, turnover tables and survey results behind that draft were collected in summer 2025 and have been public since the first round of workshops that fall. They describe a parking problem that sits in a different place from the one Long Beach has argued about for years. The tightest curb was in the West End, not on central Park Avenue. On West Beech Street, the spaces were already turning over quickly. The draft has to work with those findings.
Why a 2025 Study Is Arriving in October 2026
The City issued its Parking Management Plan request for proposals, RFP #2024-154, on January 2, 2025. That schedule called for a contract in March and study work running from March through October 2025. The RFP gives the reasons for the study:
- parking space is scarce
- the year-round population of about 35,000 rises above 60,000 in summer
- businesses are worried about access
- drivers cruise for spaces and park illegally
- traffic backs up on Park Avenue and West Beech Street
The study carries out parking goals from the City's 2022–2032 Comprehensive Plan, and part of the funding came from Empire State Development. The Long Beach Herald reported a project budget of $150,000, with $70,000 of it from the grant.
The consulting team is DESMAN, with Andy Hill as project manager, working with Public Works Partners and Parking & Mobility Consultants. The study covers three districts: the West End and West Beech Street, Central Park Avenue, and the East End along East Park Avenue. The team held workshops for each district on September 29, September 30 and October 1, 2025. In early October 2025, News 12 Long Island reported that a full report was expected by the end of that year.
The City has not published a reason for the gap between that estimate and this week's meeting. It did publish the data.
Where the Curb Actually Filled Up
The consultants counted cars in mid-June, before the season, and again in mid-July, at its peak. These are peak snapshots taken at selected dates and times in 2025, from the workshop presentation. They are not daily averages.
| District | Peak in-season occupancy, mid-July 2025 |
|---|---|
| West End / West Beech Street | 91% |
| East End / East Park Avenue | 87% |
| Central Park Avenue | 77% |
The West End's 91% works out to 4,887 parked cars at 1 p.m. on a July Saturday. A month earlier, at 6 p.m. on a June Saturday, the same area held 4,135 cars, or 77%. So in June, before the season peaked, the West End was already as full as Central Park Avenue was at its busiest July count. Central Park Avenue includes the downtown blocks from Lafayette Boulevard to Monroe Boulevard and the LIRR garage.
The comparison matters because Long Beach's best-known parking fight took place downtown. In March 2022, the Herald reported on an earlier proposal for central-business-district meters. That proposal drew opposition from 93.6% of respondents to a Chamber of Commerce survey, and 95.8% opposed annual permits. The 2025 counts found the downtown district had the most room in July of the three.
Beech Street Spaces Were Already Turning Over
The consultants tracked 255 spaces on both sides of West Beech Street between Nevada Avenue and New York Avenue. On a July 2025 weekend, 1,067 vehicles used those spaces, a turnover rate of 4.2 cars per space. The average stay was 1.79 hours. Of those 1,067 parkers, 971 stayed two hours or less. Only 20 stayed five hours or longer. In June, the pace was slower. On a weekday, each space turned over three times and the average stay was 2.38 hours.
Turnover is the main argument for meters, and Beech Street already had it in the peak month. What the West End workshop focused on instead was illegal and double parking on Beech Street, garage access from side streets, which uses should get priority at the curb, gaps in signs and wayfinding, and access for emergency vehicles.
The East End had a similar pattern. Forty-two percent of survey respondents said they usually stay there for under an hour. That workshop also raised delivery and drop-off space and employee parking.
The Most Popular Fix Runs Into the Map
The survey had 748 responses by September 22, 2025, and about 76% came from year-round residents. The City later said more than 1,000 people took part. When asked which improvements they preferred:
- 67% chose more public parking through new lots or garages.
- 49% chose walking and cycling improvements.
- 42% chose permit-parking systems.
The top choice depends on land. At the East End workshop, Hill told News 12 that vacant land for new parking is scarce. Councilman Roy Lester argued that the more pressing problem was on Shore Road and other dense residential streets, not in the business district. The City's 2027–2031 capital plan includes a "Parking Lot Rehabilitation" line of $100,000 in 2027 and $500,000 over five years. That money repairs existing lots and does not build new ones.
The workshops also produced smaller ideas aimed at the curb that already exists. The Herald's coverage of the Central Park Avenue session reported:
- a resident's description of drivers "circling around" for spaces
- another resident's flat "No meters"
- a business owner's request for motorcycle-only spaces
- a suggestion for an annual employee permit, so that people who work on Park Avenue are not caught by the two-hour limit
The RFP asked the consultants to look at metered parking "while respecting resident needs," along with permits, municipal lots and garages, median parking, and better turnover of existing spaces. It did not set any rates.
Enforcement Has Already Changed
One change happened while the study was underway. At the February 17, 2026 City Council meeting, City Manager Daniel Creighton said that the boot-and-tow program created by the prior administration no longer existed. He said the City expected three or four hearings and might amend the law afterward so cases could be handled in City Court, according to the meeting minutes. The West End's main complaints in 2025 were double parking and illegal parking, so enforcement may matter to Beech Street as much as any new sign or permit.
The Rules on the Books Before Anything Changes
The City's parking plan page describes the next steps: the public gives input on the recommendations, and then a final plan goes to the City Council. Until any change is adopted, these are the rules the City Clerk's parking page currently lists:
- Meters: $0.50 an hour from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. They apply on weekdays year-round and on weekends from June 1 through Labor Day.
- LIRR garage: 2026–27 commuter permits cost $250 for residents and $300 for nonresidents and are valid July 1 through June 30. They cover numbered garage spaces and designated spaces on J.J. Evans Boulevard. ParkMobile works at the garage.
- Resident lot permit: $50 per vehicle. It covers eight listed municipal lots, including the West Beech Street lots, Center Mall, Long Beach Road at Walnut Street, and the 200 block of Shore Road. Most of these lots allow two-hour parking without a permit from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays. The Shore Road lot requires a resident decal at all times.
The 2026 resident permits went on sale in mid-December, so watch for the next round around the end of the year. Check with the City Clerk before relying on any rate or rule here, because the plan could change some of them.
The next big parking day is not on the plan's calendar. The 21st Annual City Council Turkey Trot runs Sunday, November 22, 2026, from a new start at Riverside Boulevard and the boardwalk. Same-day registration opens at 7 a.m. The children's mile starts at 8:30 a.m. and the 10K at 9 a.m. The 10K course leaves the boardwalk at New York Avenue and runs east on Broadway to Neptune Boulevard before returning to the boards. Expect runners on Broadway that morning.
Parking affects how a Long Beach block works every day, and what it's like to live on it. If you're wondering how the plan's recommendations could affect your street or your property, Michael Karlen and our team follow these decisions closely across the South Shore and are glad to talk it through. Contact Us.
