Pocket change will no longer be enough to cover an hour of parking in downtown La Mesa — $1.50 will be the new going rate starting Jan. 1.
It’s been 20 years since the city last updated the meter rate. In those two decades, the downtown has transformed into bustling, walkable blocks with small, eclectic shops and beloved restaurants.
Brittany Fox is a co-owner of Small Batch, a gift shop on La Mesa Boulevard.
“It's grown a lot. I think just a lot of millennials or younger people have moved to La Mesa,” Fox said. “I think they are used to coming from North Park or places like that where there's a little bit more of a walkable area. So because of us being here and all the different, great businesses that have opened up in the last five to 10 years, I think it's gotten a lot more popular down here.”
Fox lives in Little Italy and doesn’t think the rate hike will hurt business.
“Because our parking (in La Mesa) is already so inexpensive, I don’t think that it’s going to be that big of a deal,” Fox said. “A little increase, which again, is still way less than most places in this area, I don’t see it being a problem.”
But a couple of downtown shoppers KPBS spoke to on Monday said it might have an impact.
“If I know that I’m going to have to pay for parking, I’ll kind of think about the decision, 'oh do I really want to go?'” said Brenna Martinez, who was shopping for books and records.
Her companion, Sam Hockaday, said he’s wary of the rising parking costs across San Diego County.
“I feel like in a lot of places it costs the same amount to park as it does to get whatever meal or coffee you’re trying to get, and that sucks,” Hockaday said.
Boosting the cost of parking has become trendy among the region’s cities in the past couple of years, including Chula Vista and San Diego.
San Diego has been especially aggressive, boosting all meters to $2.50 an hour and $10 an hour on certain downtown streets during big events like Padres games and concerts. Also, beginning Jan. 5, there will be parking fees and meters in Balboa Park for the first time.
La Mesa’s Community Parking Commission recommended the city council approve the rate change in October. The commission reviewed other city’s rates and found the average meter rate for San Diego County (excluding La Mesa) is $2.05 per hour.
“Fund revenue has not kept pace with the cost of infrastructure maintenance and improvements in the District,” the commission wrote in the report presented to city council in July.
Mayor Mark Arapostathis said in a recent interview that the rate hike is needed to maintain and upgrade the meters.
“We did unanimously vote to raise the rates mostly because all the costs have gone up and technology has changed, and we want to try to keep up with that,” Arapostathis said.
The city is also increasing the cost of parking permits, which are exclusively for the local businesses. Businesses can purchase permits for their employees to park in certain metered areas.
The city historically has had a tiered system that provided parking access based on the price of the permit. In the new year, the city will get rid of the tiered system but charge more for new permits.
The parking commission estimates the new meter rate will generate an additional $273,000 in parking revenues per year. Meter revenue is funneled back into the downtown to update and maintain meters, streets and traffic signals, according to the commission. It can also be used for events, programs and advertising.
“Wherever you’re paying for parking, hopefully you’ll see those improvements in real time — if you’re out early enough, you’ll see that they’re doing street washing and keeping the streets clean,” Arapostathis said. “We’re doing anything we can to improve that area.”
