The backlash against increased city of San Diego parking fees has gained political traction in the new year.
On January 7, City Councilmember Raul Campillo proposed rolling back the new Downtown Special Events Parking Fees. He also called for decreasing the number of blocks affected by surge pricing during special events and shortening the time of the enforcement window.
Campillo calls his proposal the 5/5/5 Plan, which would:
- Reduce the hourly special event rate from $10 to $5.
- Limit the special event parking zone to five blocks around Petco Park (instead of 17 blocks).
- Shorten the enforcement window from six hours to five.
“We need to do this rollback before it leaves a permanent black eye on the city,” Campillo said at a downtown press conference.
He said fees implemented last fall have made downtown less accessible during major events, including San Diego Padres baseball games at Petco Park.
New parking fees were a highly vilified part of San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria’s attempt to balance a city budget that ended the last fiscal year with a quarter-billion-dollar deficit.
“Downtown San Diego should be welcoming and accessible—not punitive,” Campillo said. “These fees are hurting residents, discouraging customers, and forcing workers to pay premium prices just to go to work. We need to restore balance.”
Campillo was supported at his press conference by members of the California Restaurant Association, San Diego County Lodging Association and Downtown San Diego Partnership President & CEO Betsy Brennan.
“This policy risks hanging a “Do Not Enter” sign over downtown during baseball games and special events.”
–DSDP President & CEO Betsy Brennan
“With the city’s parking rates jumping to ten dollars per hour for special events, we aren’t inviting people with open arms,” Brennan said. “We’re greeting them with a very high entrance fee. Instead of rolling out the welcome mat, this policy risks hanging a “Do Not Enter” sign over downtown during baseball games and special events.”
Campillo said he’ll work with the San Diego City Attorney to draft amendments to the San Diego Municipal Code. Then he’ll ask Council President Joe LaCava to schedule the item for consideration by the City Council’s Rules Committee.
The amendment would need five council votes to pass. In the event that Mayor Gloria would veto the bill, the council would need six votes to override a veto.
A day before Campillo announced his proposal, two city councilmembers wrote a letter urging Gloria to waive new parking fees for San Diego residents in Balboa Park “until key problems are fixed and the public has had time to adapt to this new program.”
After that letter from councilmembers Kent Lee and Sean Elo-Rivera surfaced, the councilmember who represents downtown and Balboa Park, District 3’s Stephen Whitburn, took to Instagram to call for all new parking fees at Balboa Park to be completely rescinded.
Campillo said he agrees with Whitburn in the call to eliminate parking fees in Balboa Park. Campillo said it’s unlikely his 5/5/5 Plan will be merged with any legislation that would involve Balboa Park parking fees. SDSun
