SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Drivers will be paying more to park in certain parts of San Diego.
The City of San Diego on Thursday announced it is extending parking meter hours and updating rates in the following areas:
- Pacific Beach
- Mid-City
- Uptown
- Downtown
According to the city, the changes “will begin as early as today [Thursday] within the Pacific Beach and Mid-City Community Parking Districts, where meters already exist.”
Drivers will be advised of the new hours via stickers on adjacent parking meter signs.
Price and hours adjustments in the other areas will occur over the next month, the city added.
Parking meter hours will be extended by at least two hours -- for example, hours that currently end at 6 p.m. will be extended to 8 p.m. Starting hours will not change.
Additionally, it will no longer be free to park in commercial areas on Sundays.
“Until recently, the City of San Diego’s parking meter rates and hours had not been updated in decades. These changes are part of a comprehensive effort to bring the City’s parking practices and pricing in line with most other major cities in California. The additional revenue gained by increasing the hours of parking meter operations will be reinvested in the communities where the fees were collected, helping pay for long-overdue street, sidewalk and other infrastructure improvements,” city officials said.
The city added vehicles with a disabled placard or license plate can still park at all city meters for free.
The cost of parking near Petco Park during major events will quadruple from $2.50 to $10 an hour next month, as the city prepares a new special-event parking zone, set to begin Sept. 1.
The event zone will affect parking-meter rates within a half mile of Petco Park and is intended to ease traffic congestion near the stadium, city officials said. The Padres, meanwhile, said they were caught off guard by the hike.
"The city's decision to raise parking meter rates by 700% since last year, reaching $10 per hour before and during events at Petco Park, will make it significantly more expensive for fans, workers and residents to park on the streets surrounding the ballpark," a Padres spokesman told City News Service.
"The city made this decision without meaningful input from key stakeholders, including the Padres organization. We have not yet received information regarding how the new parking revenue will be reinvested locally but look forward to better understanding the city's plan."
Meter rates will increase to $10 an hour starting two hours before a baseball game or any major event "expected to draw 10,000 people or more," according to the city. The $10 rate will continue for four hours prior to the start time of the event, for a total of six hours.
There are 17 special events scheduled for September at Petco, including 14 Padres games, two sold-out Savannah Bananas baseball games (Sept. 5-6) and a Chris Brown concert (Sept. 17).
The parking rate in San Diego doubled in January -- from $1.25 an hour to $2.50 an hour -- throughout most of the city. While city leaders said this was to bring the city more in line with those of other large California cities, it also was, in part, to address a looming $252.2 million city deficit.
The doubling was expected to bring in $800,000 each month for an average of $9.6 million annually, according to a report by the city's independent budget analyst. The city passed a budget in June balanced on several increased fees or fees being charged for the first time -- such as parking in Balboa Park.
To compare, downtown Los Angeles meter rates vary depending on location from $.50 to $6 an hour. San Francisco uses "demand-responsive pricing" that ranges from under $2 to $11 an hour. Seattle charges more depending on time of day, with evening rates ranging from $1 to $6.
In San Diego, both the special-event zone increase and the additional two metered hours are part of a package of changes to the municipal code "intended to improve management of on-street parking" and increase parking rates that the San Diego City Council also passed in June.
Click here to learn more about the parking meter changes.
City News Service contributed to this story.
