A sweeping proposal to revamp many San Diego parking rules — including plans to end free street parking on Sundays and install meters in Balboa Park — is facing backlash from residents, merchant groups and nonprofits. With the proposal headed for a City Council vote in late May, officials are ma king some concessions such as a plan to allow $9-per-year residential permits in any neighborhood where Sunday metered parking will no longer be free. But the city is holding firm on other proposed changes that face opposition, including plans to dramatically shrink the share of meter revenue that nonprofit community parking districts get to keep for neighborhood projects. The parking districts would also be required to diversify their governing boards, which are now dominated by merchants and don’t often include residents, community-based organizations or advocacy groups. City officials are meeting regularly with Balboa Park officials to discuss how the city will charge for parking there, which would likely go beyond meters to include full-day passes and other options. While Balboa Park officials say they appreciate the ongoing discussions, they remain adamant that more analysis is needed before any changes that could slash the number of visitors to the park’s museums and other attractions. “Implementing a poorly planned or poorly communicated paid parking strategy would decimate visitation to the park,” Peter Comiskey, leader of the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, told a City Council committee last month. “We want all residents to spend longer enjoying Balboa Park, not watching a meter.” The proposed parking change facing the most backlash is a plan to end free street parking on Sundays in some neighborhoods and business districts that city officials say they would choose based on careful analysis. Shane Harris, a local civil rights advocate, launched a petition against the proposal that has garnered more than 1,500 signatures since February. “In the midst of inflation and other concerns, people are saying ‘no,’” Harris told the council’s Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. City Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, who represents downtown and Hillcrest, initially said he would reject the entire package of changes if it included an end to free Sunday parking. “Many residents in my district don’t have driveways or garages,” Whitburn said during the March 20 committee hearing. “They have to park on the street.” But Whitburn ended up voting in favor of the package after city officials announced their plan to make any properties within a quarter-mile of meters that operate on Sunday eligible for residential parking permits. San Diego already has five residential parking permit districts — one in Hillcrest, one in Logan Heights, one in downtown’s El Cortez area, one near San Diego State University and one near Mesa College. But those were created because residents there meet the requirement of being severely impacted by all-day commuter parking generated by a nearby facility or institution. The city’s proposal would soften that requirement by automatically making any area eligible if free Sunday parking goes away in that area. Permits now cost $9 a year, but the price could rise in the future. Councilmember Henry Foster supported the overall parking package but said he would like the city’s independent budget analyst to estimate how much revenue the city would generate by ending free Sunday parking. Councilmember Marni von Wilpert voted against the package, contending there are too many unanswered questions and that it’s unclear how much new parking revenue could do to help close the city’s $250 million budget deficit. The committee voted 3-1 to forward the package to the full council. City spokesperson Nicole Darling said Friday that no firm date has been set for that hearing, but she said it’s expected to take place in late May. Sweeping changes are proposed for parking in San Diego, including more meters, increased prices during special events, and the end of free Sunday parking. Parking meters along University Avenue in Hillcrest on Friday. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune) The sweeping parking reforms are being proposed in response to the city’s budget crisis, which grew worse after voters rejected a proposed 1-cent sales tax increase in November that could have raised $400 million a year. City officials have said the parking updates could raise as much as $100 million a year, but they have conceded that estimate is a very rough one. While closing budget gaps is clearly the prime motive, city officials have also tried to characterize the changes as beneficial on their own because they will make parking spots more available in impacted areas. “The parking management strategies are designed to implement financially sustainable solutions while enhancing the user experience through improved access and ease of use,” city officials said in a staff report describing the changes. Another key part of the proposal is allowing business districts and neighborhoods to add parking meters more easily. Neighborhoods have generally been required to create a nonprofit community parking district that would handle the money generated by the meters. But that hasn’t been a legal requirement, and city officials want to eliminate it. In addition, neighborhoods would no longer be required — as a precursor to meters — to test out two-hour and three-hour parking zones enforced by chalking tires instead of meters. Pacific Beach added meters in 2023, and meters are being explored in Kearny Mesa and San Ysidro. The looser rules could prompt several more neighborhoods to consider following suit. Other parts of the package include demand-based variable pricing, where parking would be more expensive during special events and near beaches on weekends, as well as new blockage fees for developers and contractors. The blockage fees, proposed at $20 per day per metered parking space, would encourage developers whose construction projects eliminate parking spots to finish those projects more quickly, city officials said. “This ensures the city is not negatively impacted from development projects that impact paid parking spaces,” said Ahmad Erikat, a city parking districts program manager. “It also creates an additional incentive for developers to minimize impacts.” The changes proposed to community parking districts have also drawn criticism, especially a plan to shrink the share of meter revenue they get to keep from 45% to 15%. While that seems like a dramatic drop, city officials said that because San Diego doubled the cost of meters from $1.25 to $2.50 this winter, the districts will end up getting about the same amount they did when their share was 45%. “When you raised rates to $2.50, you massively increased the pie,” said Heather Werner, a city mobility official spearheading the parking changes. The proposals would also require the districts to diversify their boards. A group of community nonprofits lobbying for that change said a good example of why it’s necessary is a decision by the parking district overseeing City Heights to replace coin meters with meters that accept only payment cards. That’s a problem, they said, because many City Heights residents are recent immigrants who use only cash and don’t use banks. “A more inclusive decision-making structure would have prevented such an oversight,” said the coalition, which calls itself the San Diego Transportation Equity Working Group. ...read more read less