Please see an update in a newer post here.
Basically, faced with tremendous pushback, city staff now recommends $150 a year for residents.
By David Walters
We have learned that Mayor Todd Gloria’s office has proposed setting annual rates for parking in Balboa Park at $300 for residents and $375 for non-residents. This is an outrageous increase and far above the $150 annual rate proposed by Councilmember Marni Von Wilbert and others as fair and reasonable.
I attended the Balboa Park Commission meeting this week. The Commission, which serves as an advisory body to the Mayor’s Office, voted to recommend annual passes be priced at $99, with discounts for seniors and low-income families.
The final decision on parking fees will be made by the City Council, which is expected to meet and vote on this issue on Monday, November 17, or Tuesday, November 18.
A recent survey of our Redwood Bridge Club members showed that most of them cannot afford parking permits at these prices — and the same holds true for most San Diegans. If the City intends to monetize parking in Balboa Park, it must do so in a way that keeps the park accessible and welcoming to all.
To maximize revenue, these passes must be priced to encourage participation, not discourage it. The City cannot profit from empty parking lots or a park that people can no longer afford to visit.
For comparison’s sake, a San Diego Zoo membership, which includes free parking, costs $99, and an annual pass to all Balboa Park museums costs $109.
An annual parking pass should be in line with these prices, not triple those amounts.
Let’s make our voices heard. A strong show of community support will make a real difference. Together, we can urge the City Council to set a fair and reasonable price that keeps Balboa Park open and accessible to everyone.
Walters is the manager of the Redwood Bridge Club in Balboa Park.
This is absolutely ridiculous for the people that live here and already pay higher mortgages taxes, and everything else to live in San Diego and now you’re going to charge us to park here in our free state that we live in. Why don’t you charge all the visitors that come to visit? This is absolutely ridiculous thing. You wonder why so many people are leaving
The question that should be asked isn’t how much residents should be charged to park in Balboa Park, but why should we have to pay at all? San Diegans are simultaneously being hit with a bunch of new outrageous fees, from trash, to water, to parking meters, to Balboa Park. And potentially paid parking at the beach. We already pay for these things with our taxes. If City government can’t figure out how to budget, it’s on them. Time to RECALL TODD GLORIA!
This administration and council has such a warped idea of what they call social equity. At the end of the day, they hurt the people they purport to help – the hardworking and economically challenged families of San Diego.
I voted for Todd Gloria. Now I am sorry. Middle and low income people have no place in his agenda. He is interested in upper income people only.
Thanks Barbara for you honesty. I wish others — including some former friends who voted for Gloria — would have the same change of heart and courage to tell us publicly.