If you drive an EV and charge regularly at City parking lots, you may now purchase a discounted annual parking permit to avoid paying for parking each time you charge.

How to Get an EV Parking Permit for City Lots with EV Chargers

Two EV Parking Permit options are available as of July 1, 2023. If you are an EV driver that frequently uses the chargers at any of the following City lots, you can purchase an annual EV Parking Permit rather than paying for parking each time you enter the lot. All chargers are level 2 ChargePoint stations.

Please Note

EV drivers must be plugged in to a charger to use these permits.
Only fully electric vehicles are eligible for these permits (no plug-in hybrids). This will be confirmed by your proof of registration.
EV parking permits do not guarantee station availability.

Parking Permit Options:

1. Beach Lot 5 South EV Parking Permit

Cost: $75/year
Location: Beach Lot 5 South only (2701 Barnard Way). There are 24 EV charging spaces in the southeast section of the parking lot near the playground. There is no time limit at these chargers.

Seniors 62 and older are eligible for a Senior Day Beach Parking permit at an even further discounted rate by clicking here.

2. EV Parking Permit for Lots 7, 8, 9 & 11

Cost: $50/year

Locations:

Lot 7: 1217 Euclid St - 4 charge ports
Lot 8: 1146 16th St - 2 charge ports
Lot 9: 2901 Neilson Way - 4 charge ports
Lot 11: 2501 Neilson Way - 2 charge ports

1 permit provides access to all lots. Drivers must adhere to posted time limits.

For more info, Click Here

From Santa Monica Close Up:

"On Friday, July 14, 2023, the City of Los Angeles Department of Public Works, in collaboration with Clean Harbors Environmental Inc., conducted a cleanup operation at the Venice Beach Restrooms to address the homeless encampment. To ensure safety, sanitation workers wore white hazardous materials suits as part of the protocol. LAHSA (Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority) was also present, offering homeless outreach during the operation. The operation was prompted by significant health and safety concerns for both the unhoused and the general public, as many of the unhoused individuals had been using the restrooms as living quarters."

Santa Monica Close Up is a photo blog by Santa Monica based Photojournalist/Press photographer Fabian Lewkowicz. Fabian is the former staff photographer for the Santa Monica Daily Observer Press, Santa Monica Mirror, Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Corsair.

Support Santa Monica Closeup/Fabian Lewkowicz with Venmo or PayPal to help earn money to make these videos:

https://venmo.com/u/santamonicacloseup

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/fabianlewkowicz

From Santa Monica Close Up:

"Santa Monica Beach was transformed into a mesmerizing display of lights on Thursday night, as Skyworx orchestrated a breathtaking aerial performance featuring 500 drones. The stunning event was organized to celebrate the highly anticipated Concacaf Gold Cup Final between Mexico and Panama at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on July 16."

Santa Monica Close Up is a photo blog by Santa Monica based Photojournalist/Press photographer Fabian Lewkowicz. Fabian is the former staff photographer for the Santa Monica Daily Observer Press, Santa Monica Mirror, Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Corsair.

Support Santa Monica Closeup/Fabian Lewkowicz with Venmo or PayPal to help earn money to make these videos:

https://venmo.com/u/santamonicacloseup

https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/fabianlewkowicz

Check out these inspiring art pieces done by our community. These gemswere spotted on the beaches.

Join Heal the Bay's Nothin' But Sand Beach Cleanup for Plastic-Free July 2023!

Help keep the beach plastic-free for the summer at Heal the Bay’s Nothin’ But Sand beach cleanup on Saturday, July 15, 2023!

Join us on the sand for some beach cleanup fun and learn how you can disrupt human plastic dependency & its harmful impact on the planet through composting practices, recycling, and plastic alternatives.

Win raffle prizes
Take part in our Green Bin Games
Get a FREE Compost Bin* (while supplies last)
…And help Heal the Bay identify how much compostable waste, trash and microplastic actually end up on our beaches.

Start the summer off on the sand and help keep the beach safe, clean, and healthy for all with Heal the Bay!

Cleanup location:
Will Rogers Beach, Tower 7
17000 Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Palisades 90272

For more info and to register, Click Here

Barnes and Noble ofically announced its return to the 3rd Street Promenade in Santa Monica on Thursday by placing a "coming soon" banner on it's future location between Johnny Rocket’s and Coffee Bean.

Barnes & Noble has been opening new bookstores at an unprecedented rate. Having opened only one or two new stores each year during the decade after 2009, Barnes & Noble has opened over a dozen new bookstores in 2022 and has over 30 further stores in development for 2023. Expansion this size is possible because of a strengthened interest in books and reading that came as a result of the pandemic — more people read because they were stuck at home. The book store chain says it has been experiencing increasing sales, supported by “significant expansion of the market for physical books driven by word-of-mouth and social media recommendations."

“The health of good bookstores has never been better than at present as demonstrated by all the new openings” said James Daunt, CEO, Barnes & Noble. “It is such an exciting sea change in the fortunes of bookstores, with booming sales of books being led by real books being bought in real bookstores.

Opening date for the new Santa Monica store has not yet been anounced.

The milky way core along PCH nearby El Matador Beach

Julian Martinez is leading the paddle out for Chris “Spanto” Printup this Saturday at the Breakwater.

The Santa Monica Pier 360 Beach Festival had a mini-ramp built on the pier for their Skate Experience. It was open to everyone and free.

This set of skate photos was shot by Six12 Media during the 2-day event.


















You can find 200+ more photos from this session, all full size and in high-resolution, in this photo gallery:

Pier 360 Skate Experience Photo Gallery