Your visit to downtown San Luis Obispo is about to get even pricier, especially if you bring your car.
The SLO City Council approved a new parking rate structure on June 6, which will go into effect in January 2018.
Per-hour metered parking in SLO will increase by 25 cents—in the core of downtown, the rates will rise from $1.50 to $1.75 per hour. Parking garage rates will also go up by 25 cents per hour, and 10-hour and permit parking jump by $20 and $60, respectively. Parking tickets are also getting a $7 hike in 2018.
Then, come 2020, the rates will get another 25-cent bump.
The new rate structure is “necessary for long-term sustainability and reinvestment in capital projects,” according to the SLO Public Works Department. The most substantial (and expensive) of the city’s future parking projects is the $23.6 million parking garage set for the corner of Palm and Nipomo streets—expected to start construction in 2019. That garage will have about 400 parking spaces. SLO is also undergoing a “parking structure assessment” next year that could lead to further capital parking structure projects.
The city projects it will collect $5.6 million in parking-related revenue in 2017-18, and $6 million in 2018-19, which is up from the $4.4 million raked in this fiscal year.
This article appears in Jun 8-15, 2017.