New parking fees rolled out at Balboa Park Monday, revising the fees the city started charging back on January 5th. City leaders said they listened to concerns of residents and museum leaders in the park and came up with something good for everyone.
“Residents will be able to park in up to 70% of the lots here in and around Balboa Park for free once they get verified as city residents. And that's a bit of an improvement to how the program first started,” said city spokesperson Jose Ysea.
Here’s the breakdown of who gets to park where and for how much:
- In the Level 1 Premium lots, residents can pay $8 for the day or $5 for four hours. For non-residents, those lots are $16 a day or $10 for four hours.
- In the Level 2 lots, residents can park for free. Non-residents will pay $10 a day.
- The Level 3 lot is also free for residents. Non-residents pay $10 a day, but the first three hours are free.
The city is now issuing warning notices to visitors who don’t pay for parking, and they say they’ll start issuing tickets on March 16th.
Ysea said the city has already taken in $1 million since first starting to charge for parking, and the money generated from parking fees is critical to the park’s survival.
“There's a cost to be able to maintain and do repairs. It's an old park, old buildings, a lot of beautiful trees,” Ysea said. “All of that costs money, and we're hoping that this will help us generate some funds. Of course, all the funds that are generated stay within the park here.”
There has been pushback from the public since the parking fees went into effect, and that pushback has been fierce from museum leaders.
Air & Space Museum President and CEO Jim Kidrick said there shouldn’t be any paid parking in the park at all.
Model Railroad Museum Executive Director Michael Warburton agreed, saying,“The changes that are starting today, they don't go far enough.”
Warburton also said charging non-San Diego residents more is not fair and hurts the park.
“Not only is it eliminating the opportunity for county residents to park for free, we have a ton of people who visit from the county, but it's also not as easy as people think. If you've tried to register as a city resident, it's pretty cumbersome,” he said.
Ysea said the city is aware of that, and they’re making people available to help.
“We do have digital navigators, as we call them. They're accessible at the libraries, or they can give us a call, and we'll have somebody to help you process your application online,” he said.
Plus, for at least this week, city staff are posted at various kiosks to offer in-person help.
But Warburton said none of it is good enough. He said he’s been tracking visitor numbers since the fees went into effect, and he said the numbers are down.
“Yesterday, Sunday, I was down 39% in attendance compared to last year's same Sunday. Overall, since January fifth, since this parking thing has been in effect, I'm down 29% in attendance,” he said.
Back over at the Air and Space Museum, Kidrick said the parking fees pose an existential threat to some museums and cultural institutions in the park.
“There are some here that operate hand-to-mouth. It's unfortunate, but it's the way it is. Okay? Sad. Why would you do that?” Kidrick asked. -“How does the city risk anyone in this park?”
That’s a question the city is sure to be asked by museum leaders in Balboa Park as the next phase of the fight over charging for parking in the park gets underway.
