BEVERLY HILLS—The Beverly Hills City Council passed an ordinance on Tuesday, October 7 to ban any form of compensation in exchange for occupancy of a publicly owned parking spot. If the ordinance is approved during a second reading, it will go into effect 31 days after its passage.

Canyon News received a press release from Therese Kosterman, Public Information Manager of the City of Beverly Hills indicating that the majority of the Council were opposed to applications like ParkingMonkey, that allows drivers to sell their public parking spot to the highest bidder. The City has over 2,700 public parking spaces throughout the region.

“Use of public space should be on a first come, first served basis,” said Mayor Lili Bosse. “Mobile applications such as this encourage price-gouging and driving while texting and is a disadvantage for anyone who does not have the latest mobile technology.”

Issues with ParkingMonkey is that it can allow a driver to hold a parking space for the highest bidder, halting other drivers from being able to utilize that parking space. Other worries for the council include drivers using the application being distracted by their cell phone while behind the wheel.

The developer of ParkingMonkey received a cease and desist notice from the City of San Francisco in August 2014, which prompted them to launch the application in Santa Monica and Beverly Hills.