The frantic discussion over downtown parking reached a fever pitch in the lead-up to the San Luis Obispo City Council’s Nov. 7 meeting.
Representatives from several downtown businesses expressed their frustration online with the hourly $4 rate that gripped the city center starting in July. Come 2025, that on-street rate is set to climb again to $5 an hour.
“We stand at a precipice, and I fear that you will not fully understand the negative impact of your policies until we are in free fall towards the rocks below,” Antigua Brewing wrote in an Instagram post addressed to the City Council prior to the meeting. “We are seeing less of previously regular customers, and they are telling downtown business owners that they can’t afford the added cost of parking.”
Parking rates in downtown SLO became a contentious issue after the city revealed that its plans to erect a fourth parking garage in the area would cost an estimated $53 million. City officials doubled hourly parking rates to raise revenue for a $47 million loan for the garage. In comparison, hourly street parking on Paso Robles, the Cal Poly campus, and Pismo Beach sets drivers back by $2, $3, and $5, respectively with Paso Robles setting the first two hours free.
SLO’s parking rate jump is part of a decade-long plan that began with the city approaching SLO Repertory Theatre for a joint project. The city would build the garage and allot a portion of the land to SLO Rep to build a new performing arts center. At the Nov. 7 meeting, city staff referred to the proposed garage as the Cultural Arts District Parking Structure.
Antigua, other businesses like Blackwater, and public commenters at the Nov. 7 meeting urged for parking payment relief. Enough community members thronged to attend the parking program update that officials opened an overflow room to make space for everyone.
After a five-hour discussion, City Council arrived at a unanimous decision.
The council adopted a draft resolution authorizing an hour of free parking in structures and free parking in structures on Sundays through June 30, 2025. The changes will be effective Thanksgiving day. That draft resolution also greenlit free parking on streets and in structures from 6 to 9 p.m. during the 2023 and 2024 downtown Christmas parades.
While some attendees supported the free first hour preference, others claimed it would make a negligible difference. One such community member was Brenda Altamirano, who said she worked approximately five-hour shifts at the downtown Williams Sonoma store for an hourly wage of $16.
“One hour free would do nothing for me as an employee because right now I’m basically working one hour just to pay for parking,” she said during public comment.
However, city staff claimed that parking data told a different story. Street parking in the downtown core that spans 12 blocks costs $4 an hour while the surrounding blocks charge $3 an hour, Deputy Director of Mobile Services Jennifer Rice said at the meeting. She added that during peak hours, seven of the 12 blocks in the downtown core are at 85 percent street parking capacity.
“What that tells us is that the outlying areas have less utilization and so that’s bringing down that overall utilization rate to 63 percent,” Rice said. “It also shows that people will pay more to park closer to their destination even when there are less expensive options that are readily available.”
The council also set the ball rolling on a parking rate study that could develop a methodology to manage parking and community needs.
The rate study will evaluate eliminating charging for street parking from 6 to 9 p.m.—hours that were once free—tier-based parking pricing, and block time payments among other scenarios. City officials are gearing up to request proposals from firms to help them with the study. They expect the final rate study to appear before City Council in April 2024.
But longtime SLO resident and former downtown business owner Leslie Beers wished for the study to be removed altogether, much to the appreciation of many attendees who applauded in support.
“You should take away the study and get the business people together, make a consensus of what they want,” she said during public comment. Δ
Correction: An earlier version of this story misreported where free parking is available for an hour. New Times regrets the error.
This article appears in Nov 9-19, 2023.
Thanks to Bulbul Rajagopal for an excellent summary of the recent SLO City Council session related to downtown parking. It seems some on city staff are very keen to keep downtown parking rates as high possible. Why? It’s hard to believe that the $53 million garage these parking fees are to pay for became an important city gov’t. initiative only due to some casual agreement with the SLO Repertory Theater. To put this project in context, the City of SLO has about 47,000 residents, including children. On a per capita basis the cost of the multi-level garage would be $1,228, if a direct assessment was made — or just under $5,000 for a family of four. Also, why are the City Council and City staff so willing to risk local downtown businesses that generate sales tax revenue to benefit a small live performance venue 3-5 years from now? Finally, resident Leslie Beers is exactly right: Sure, do a comprehensive parking study ($$study cost??), if you must, but in the meantime provide further relief such as allowing free or cheaper street parking after 7pm or 8pm, for example, so local businesses don’t have to worry and suffer while the study is ongoing.