The San Diego City Council backed off from yet another proposed fee on San Diego residents Tuesday, dropping the idea of charging for parking on Sundays in downtown, Uptown and Mid-City.
The idea to charge city residents $141.50 annually to park in those neighborhoods on Sundays proved so unpopular, even those who reluctantly voted for it in committee denounced it as unfair.
"I certainly prefer not to have paid parking on Sundays," City Councilman Stephen Whitburn said when the proposal met with immediate opposition from other council members. "I believe we should also reconsider the Balboa Park parking fees."
Whitburn, who chairs the council's Active Transportation and Infrastructure Committee where the proposal was approved, said he only wanted to charge for Sunday parking if residents had a deeply discounted or free parking pass.
The $141.50 proposal would have indeed been a discount — compared to the $1,560 annually it would have cost a person without said pass to park at a meter all day every Sunday for the duration of the year — but one that Council President Joe LaCava said was too broad, considering residents in more affluent areas such as Bankers Hill would pay the same price as those in less affluent City Heights.
Fehr & Peers, a traffic engineering and transportation planning consulting firm, conducted a traffic survey at the behest of the city in 2024. It found that Sunday was the day with the highest percentage of parking space occupancy by far.
In the downtown area, 91% of parking spaces were occupied at any given time on Sundays, compared to 74% on Thursdays and 76% on Fridays. Uptown saw 80% occupancy on Sundays, compared to 66% and 69% on Thursdays and Fridays. Mid-City was the most dramatic, showing occupancy of 88% on Sundays compared to just 57% and 59% on Thursdays and Fridays.
"The study concluded that implementing paid parking on Sundays will offer several key benefits: It would encourage more efficient turnover of parking spaces to increase availability for visitors, help manage congestion in high-demand areas, and generate additional revenue that could be reinvested into neighborhood improvements, mobility options, and infrastructure maintenance," according to a city document.
While the non-action on Tuesday's proposal is a win for those pushing back against increasing fees and charges, it does come with an unfortunate caveat.
Last year, when the council wheeled and dealed with Mayor Todd Gloria's office to craft the Fiscal Year 2026 budget, the prospect of charging for Sunday parking in the three swathes mentioned above was included in the budget — to the tune of $1.4 million. Combining that with a delayed (and as yet, not very fruitful) rollout of Balboa Park parking fees, the city is looking at $9.4 million in lost expected parking revenue. San Diego is also $7 million below the expected transient occupancy tax — essentially a hotel tax —
put in the budget.
"That deficit will need to be closed through cutting services or drawing down on reserves," said Charles Modica, the city's independent budget analyst. "Make whatever choice you feel is right, but there are consequences to the actions that you take."
The loss of expected revenue doubles in Fiscal Year 2027 to $2.8 million annually. The council has received significant pushback as it seeks to close budget deficits without slashing services.
"No one here is blind to the criticism and the feedback," Council President Pro Tem Kent Lee said.
Councilman Sean Elo-Rivera said poor people were being unfairly targeted.
"People bend over backwards to help the biggest corporations and wealthiest people in the city when they need a favor," he said.
Tuesday did not spell the end of the Sunday parking discussion, but as no council action was taken, it heads back to city staff for reworking.
Meanwhile, San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond gathered with other elected leaders and business owners Tuesday to discuss a proposal before the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday intended to fight back against increasing costs.
"San Diego families are being hit from every direction — sales taxes, transfer taxes, payroll tax proposals, utility rate hikes, parking fees, trash fees, and more still being quietly developed behind closed doors," Desmond said. "Taken together, it's a crushing burden, especially on working families and small businesses already stretched thin."
