This week, the San Diego Budget & Finance Committee advanced a proposal to radically change parking meter policies in our City. The proposal would:
* allow the maximum parking meter rate to be DOUBLED to $2.50 an hour;
* allow parking meters to charge on Sundays;
* allow parking meters to charge until 11PM;
* increase city staffing for parking enforcement, even at a time of a citywide hiring freeze.
Currently under the City Code, city parking meters are limited to the rates of 50 cents – $1.25/hour, operating hours of 8AM-6PM, and cannot charge on Sundays or holidays.
You can read the proposal yourself here. It was approved by Committee and advanced to the full City Council for a vote, sometime in the next few weeks. The Committee vote broke down this way:
* Tony Young – YES
* Todd Gloria – YES
* Kevin Faulconer – YES
* Carl DeMaio – NO
* Marti Emerald – NO
I’d like to thank Councilmembers DeMaio and Emerald for their stalwart opposition to this flawed and transparent money-grab. The proposal is expected to bring in nearly $1.4 million in revenue for city coffers this fiscal year, rising to $4.7 million by the end of Fiscal Year 2013.
When the full City Council reviews this proposal, they should take note that it’s not only Republican voters who oppose these radical changes. According to a poll of San Diegans taken earlier this year, 56% of Democrats and 61% of Independents oppose raising parking meter rates to raise money for the City, and 88% of Democrats and 91% of Independents believe that Sunday free parking should stay free.