Weeks after San Diego announced it would hike parking rates near Petco Park during major events, the city announced Thursday it will lengthen metered parking hours in several business districts around town.
According to a city statement, these additional meter hours will begin as soon as Thursday in Pacific Beach and the Mid-City area, but over the next month, will also hit uptown and downtown San Diego. The metered hours will increase by at least two hours and extend to Sundays.
"Until recently, the city of San Diego's parking meter rates and hours had not been updated in decades," the city statement reads. "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 city stated that not only will the increased hours create more parking turnover and thus improve traffic, the funds raised in each business district will be reinvested in that district, "helping pay for long-overdue street, sidewalk and other infrastructure improvements."
In three of the four parking districts being changed, metered hours will now go to 10 p.m., while in the Mid-City district, hours will go to 8 p.m. Starting metered hours will not change. Meters by the waterfront operated by the San Diego Unified Port District will not be affected.
Vehicles with a disabled placard or license plate will continue to be able to park at meters throughout the city 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.
