At a Tuesday budget meeting, San Diego city councilmembers echoed the sentiments of residents angry about a plan to implement paid parking at Balboa Park.
The common ground? Keep parking free, unless you’re a tourist.
Tourists, in this case, aren’t just “zonies,” but also residents of nearby cities such as Chula Vista and La Mesa who share at least one thing in common: their local tax dollars don’t support the park.
A city parking study shows 13 to 15 percent of daily trips to the park year-round are from outside the city of San Diego. Meanwhile, nearly 45 percent of trips are from District 3, including the neighborhoods of Hillcrest, North Park and downtown.
City staff estimates paid parking would generate $11 million over six months via an hourly model where all motorists pay $2.50 per hour to park. If applied only to non-resident traffic at the same rate, this estimate would plummet to $1.4 million.
“I do not care how much non-residents pay for parking at Balboa Park,” Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera said. “Folks who come from other cities and use the city of San Diego as a playground, and their cities charge us when we go there, can pay their fair share.”
San Diego’s public golf courses already employ a model where residents and non-residents pay different rates, Municipal Employees Association General Manager Michael Zucchet noted during public comment. The city system gives lower rates and earlier tee time booking to local golfers who sign up for a resident ID card.
While such a system would relieve cash-strapped locals from parking payments, it would be unlikely to aid the city in reaching some of the other goals identified in its parking study, such as shifting demand to lesser-used lots and encouraging residents to consider more sustainable modes of transportation. The study emphasizes a tiered system where hourly rates would be dependent on how far a spot is from the center of the park, which would increase parking availability by discouraging driving and shifting demand to lesser-used lots.
Many residents fear any parking fees would create a financial barrier to visiting the park for low-income residents.
“Our public parks are the last escape for people on a budget to enjoy the assets that have been endowed to us by generations before,” resident Rosemary Bystrak said in a March parking meeting. “Paid parking in our most valuable parks is unfathomable and should be off the table.”
The city is also contemplating adding meters for parking spots along Park Boulevard, 6th Avenue, South Balboa Drive and Presidents Way, as well as a revenue sharing program for paid parking at the San Diego Zoo, which is located on public property.
The Parks and Recreation department is bracing for up to a 20 percent budget reduction as the city works to close a $258 million budget deficit. This includes a host of proposed cuts to Balboa Park services, including reduced park maintenance and fewer public restrooms, as well as cuts to libraries and recreation centers.
“I think it’s a lot to ask park users around the city to pay for parking and get less in services,” said Councilmember Stephen Whitburn, whose district includes the park, adding he would like to retain “a significant amount of free parking for Balboa Park.”
Parking reforms have swept the city in recent months, which kicked off in February when meter rates doubled to $2.50 per hour after holding steady for many years. Officials are also considering ending free parking on Sundays, charging for parking in Mission Bay Park and reforms that would make it easier to install meters across the city.
These conversations began before the city’s current budget crisis came into focus, but have become more urgent in recent months as the city grasps for revenue-generating opportunities after failing to pass a sales tax increase last November.
“We didn’t start this conversation in December, we started this conversation in the summer of 2022,” Elo-Rivera said. “Because the sales tax wasn’t a panacea and one of our problems as a city is that we don’t have the variety of revenue sources that other cities have.”
The mayor will present a revised version of his draft budget to the City Council later this month, with final approval following in June. The Balboa Park paid parking proposal will be considered later this year.
