By Paul Krueger
Mayor Todd Gloria has rejected proposed discounts for paid parking in Balboa Park, setting up a contentious debate at the Monday, September 15th, city council meeting. The Mayor and a majority of council members have embraced new parking fees in and around Balboa Park to help close a huge deficit in the city’s 2025-26 general fund.
But Park users, volunteers, and employees harshly criticized a proposed fee system that would generate $10.3 million annually to help close the budget gap. At a raucous July 28 council meeting, residents urged the council to abandon the plan or significantly reduce the Mayor’s proposed fee schedule.
In response, council members discussed the following concessions:
- Reducing from $12 to $10 the daily rate for the Organ Pavilion and other lots in the park’s core, with a 50 percent discount for “verified” city residents.
- Reducing to $5 a day the cost of parking in outlying lots, with four hours of free parking at Inspiration Point.
- Additional free parking on the park’s “West Mesa” (west of the Cabrillo Bridge, bordering 6th Avenue)
- Free parking everywhere after 6 pm
But in a September 11th staff report [there was a problem with city’s website] the city’s Park and Recreation Department rejected those proposed concessions. “If adopted, those changes would reduce the projected net revenue to approximately $2.0 million, creating a $9.0 million net decrease from the FY 2026 adopted budget,” the report says.
City staff – who report to the Mayor’s office — want the council to approve stiffer fees, including $12 daily for the closest lots (with a 50% discount for city residents who confirm their address and register their car), just two hours of free parking at Inspiration Point, free parking for park employees and volunteers only at the non-premium lots, with parking enforced until 8 pm, every day except federal holidays.
City staff also wants to install new meters along 6th Avenue, Park Blvd., and roads inside the park, charging $2.50 hourly, from 8 am to 8 pm (with unspecified reductions on the West Mesa).
Several city council members — including Raul Campillo and Vivian Moreno — have come out strongly against any paid parking in Balboa Park. (Campillo shared his opposition in a humorous Facebook post.) Others — including Steve Whitburn and Jen Campbell — want significant fee reductions.
But Council President Joe La Cava warned his colleagues in July that any significant reductions in parking revenue will create a hole in the city budget and require more reductions in city services.
All these moving parts will make for an animated and likely contentious discussion at the council’s Monday, September 15 meeting, at 2 pm.
More than 100 park users, employees, volunteers, and members of the city’s Balboa Park Committee voiced forceful and emotional opposition to the proposed fee structure at the Committee’s September 4th meeting. They — and many others — are expected to fill the council chambers for its September 15th meeting, which should include another discussion about paid parking at the Zoo.
A Zoo Surprise
At its September 8 meeting, the council approved changes to the Zoo’s lease with the city, which will allow it to charge for parking, probably at a rate equal to what the city will charge for its core lots. According to a Zoo official, the Zoo had no plans to charge for parking, and will do so only because its lot would be overrun by park goers if parking there remained free.
Though a Zoo spokesperson told the council that no details about parking rates, discounts, or possible free parking had been decided, the Zoo emailed its members just hours after that September 8 council meeting. “When paid parking is implemented in Balboa Park, we will offer complimentary parking for San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance members at the Zoo,” the email said.
That unexpected decision will change the financial and political calculus of Monday’s discussion, because what’s to stop Zoo members from parking for free at the Zoo lot, and walking to Park attractions?
You can tell council members how you feel about the paid parking proposal, by speaking in person at the council meeting, ceding your time to another speaker, calling in to the meeting, or sending a written comment.
The council’s agenda has details on how to share your opinion, and more info on the proposed fees.
Is the City going to provided shuttle service from all the paid parking for visitors, city residents, or Balboa Park volunteers with mobility issues?
Thousands of San Diegans volunteer at the institutions in Balboa Park. Some volunteer for the Park itself. Charge them for parking or say “walk from further away.” And if they have mobility issues?
Yes, shuttle service will be expanded to take everyone from the center of the park to the outlining lots.
The City has not presented any information on how many employees need to be hired to enforce the new parking rules. This will reduce the revenues to the City and increase the pension deficit.
All the complications being introduced will lead not only to confusion about what rules apply where & when, but also costs, including a new bureaucracy for verifying city residency and registering cars and for verifying designated employees and volunteers, plus the cost of whatever additional parking meter staff time might be required to check for that.
In addition, this plan seems likely to become more & more discriminatory based on group associations: Zoo members would have an advantage with free parking at the zoo. Bankers Hill residents would have an advantage because West Mesa parking would be free or lower cost. Etc. And some visitors, including nearby residents in Hillcrest and North Park, who access the park on or near Park Blvd (where there are big-draw attractions such as a large playground, World Beat Center, Centro Raza, the rose garden, etc.), could have the already recently drastically reduced number of parking spaces become expensive meters. Meanwhile, those visiting the core art museums and theaters might get a discounted rate at nearby lots.
How will the proposed fees affect the many people who uses recreation facilities and fields on the east side of Park Blvd on a daily or weekly basis. Even a $5/day fee would add up quickly for them and could be a disincentive to participation in groups that meet regularly and harm individual players. Also, are the city staff who are advocating for those parking fees remembering their fellow city staff who work in the old Navy hospital complex?
Another concern is the effects of spillover parking on all of the neighborhoods near the park. People motivated to find free parking will search for it, not only occupying spaces that already are in high demand but also circling adjoining streets, adding to traffic and pollution.
For these reasons and more, this plan is a bad way to raise city revenues. It’s time to stop finding more ways to gauge citizens and visitors and to look more seriously at budget balancing alternatives, including cutting bloated staff costs.
Excellent comment though I’m sure you meant ‘gouge’ residents and visitors – exactly what mayor and council are planning to do. Park users should not be obligated to fixing a city budget gap that our elected officials have allowed to develop for many years.
Thx much for your comments and details, Lu.
Louise lays out a number of down sides to the paid parking plan. I find it offensive that the mayor and council members believe it’s appropriate to plug the gap in the city budget by laying on the backs of city and county residents and visitors from well beyond.
This also is a regressive policy that will cost the most for our residents, many of whom are lower income and depend on our free parks and beaches for affordable recreation.
I recommend that readers go to the Committee of 100 website to read their position paper (their board opposes the parking plan). The 3 links at the head of the home page include two downloadable pdfs and a link to Special Council Meeting Agenda with information on how to comment to council in advance of Monday’s meeting.
https://www.balboaparkcommitteeof100.org/
Final paragraph in the C100 Position Paper: “It is C100’s firm belief that paid parking will create an unnecessary barrier for equitable access to the park and should not be implemented. Instead, we hope the city will partner with us and other park stakeholders to implement ways to do just the opposite: reduce barriers to access
and create new solutions to parking and transportation in and around San Diego’s crown jewel, Balboa Park.
Adopted by C100 board, July 21, 2025”
Louise makes many excellent points. I find it reprehensible that the mayor and council plan to plug the city budget gap by charging city & county residents and visitors from beyond to access our public park. This also is a regressive plan that will hit hard locals who may have limited incomes and depend on access to our public parks and beaches for affordable (free) recreational opportunities.
The mayor spoke at the recent annual meeting of the Committee of 100 and clearly stated that he expects the revenue to reduce General Fund
appropriations for the park.
The board of the Committee of 100 opposes paid parking in Balboa Park. Go to their website to see their position paper and a link for the Monday 9/15 Special Council Meeting Agenda with instructions on how we can submit comments to Council in advance of Monday’s meeting.
https://www.balboaparkcommitteeof100.org/
There are very few places and things that a family can do in San Diego without having to pay an arm and a leg. We already pay a lot in taxes and fees and in general just to live here. Leave our parks and beaches alone.