When Balboa Park opened in 1915, few people owned cars, and Balboa Park didn’t have any parking lots. But as cars became common, the city did not charge for parking in the park.
That all changed on Jan. 5, when the city launched paid parking in San Diego’s crown jewel. Officials said at the time it was necessary to close the city’s budget deficit.
In a closed session Wednesday, the City Council agreed to a settlement to roll back trash fees in San Diego and end paid parking in Balboa Park. The Balboa Park Cultural Partnership called it a major victory.
“(Paid parking) was never a great idea and I think people are finally starting to realize that,” said Jim Kidrick, president and CEO of the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
He said paid parking kept people away, costing his museum hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“I’ve got to balance a budget, and so evidently my budget doesn't mean anything anymore, and same with all the institutions that are here. And that's what they're saying,” Kidrick said.
Mike Warburton is executive director of the San Diego Model Railroad Museum. In March, his museum reported attendance had dropped 29% since the start of paid parking.
He said he’s relieved, but also not happy with what he said is damage done.
“We knew that this was going to be a massive impact and that's why we had laid off three staff members in advance of the paid parking implementation, as well as cut our hours of operation, a couple part-time positions,” Warburton said.
He’s going to have to stick with those decreased staff levels for the foreseeable future. The city is not ending paid parking tomorrow, or anytime soon. They have only committed to end it by the end of this year.
Still, the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership hailed the settlement as a victory.
“I think we’re just thrilled that the community has been listened to by the council,” said Peter Comiskey, the partnership's executive director.
When asked if anyone who was responsible for the paid parking program should face any consequences, he said it’s time to move on.
“The focus for us right now is to make sure that the people who made this work and the people who were able to get this solution through, that we celebrate their efforts,” Comiskey said.
He called the settlement a light at the end of the tunnel, but the park’s cultural institutions aren’t out of the tunnel yet.
“It’s not going to cure things overnight,” said Bob Lehman, the executive director of San Diego Art Matters.
While he works on getting the city to restore the nearly $12 million cut in arts funding, Lehman said the damage from the parking situation will take a while to recover from.
“It’s going to take months or maybe even years to bring that audience back … So, we really have to put some effort into bringing people back to the park,” Lehman said.
