by Frank Sabatini Jr./ Uptown News / March 22, 2026
The brouhaha over paid parking in and around Balboa Park became exceptionally clear to me after making two visits by car to our gorgeous public land in recent weeks.
My first visit under the new revenue- generating program was on a balmy weekday in February. It was 50 days after the initiative was implemented in early January — the plan was championed by Mayor Todd Gloria and approved by the San Diego City Council — seemingly enough time for city officials to acquaint us with a cohesive payment system.
I was there to briefly meet a friend at the Timken Museum of Art. I drove into the park at its northwestern section off of Sixth Avenue. That put me onto tree-lined Balboa Drive before hanging left to cross the Laurel Street Bridge. It’s the route I always take to my favorite parking lot located behind the Organ Pavilion, which sits in proximity to the park’s cultural heart, the El Prado.
The sight of pay stations and heavy signage pertaining to the new reality of paid parking was saddening. The materials are aesthetically cold and gawky against the park’s backdrop of lush foliage and historical architecture. It’s as through somebody walked into a large, airy room with good feng shui and cluttered it.
Bigger disappointments followed.
Nine people were in line attempting to pay at the Organ Pavilion kiosk. I timed them. Each person spent an average of six minutes navigating the machine, which requires you to punch in your license plate number and select the duration of your visit and payment method.
Frustration prevailed because you can select from only two options: $10 for four hours or $16 for “all day.” Either way, if you plan on shorter park visits for perhaps a hike through Palm Canyon or lunch at one of the park’s restaurants, you cannot tailor your parking rate accordingly.
“We’re here just to have a drink at Panama 66,” said Orange County resident Darlene Reynolds, who was visiting with her husband. “I didn’t know we’d have to pay $10 to do that,” she added while inserting her credit card into the kiosk.
Like others in the line, including myself, Reynolds’ card was declined. She tried paying with a different card, but to no avail. The couple nonetheless proceeded to the nearby restaurant uncertain if or how the paid parking is enforced. I eventually sauntered away, also without paying.
A man in front of Reynolds successfully used Apple Pay. The machine spit out a paper ticket, which doesn’t have to be displayed on vehicle dashboards. Meter maids instead use a license-plate scanning app that determines which drivers paid — and when. Freeloaders are fined $53.50 if caught.
Enforcement has been sporadic, although starting last week, aggressive ticketing was set to begin according to a city rep who later arrived at the scene to help visitors maneuver a system that the greater public finds complicated.
Metal signs hanging near most kiosks display text and QR codes to pay by phone. I witnessed mostly 20-somethings using them. Some were successful. And for unknown reasons, others weren’t.
I returned to the park two weeks later—this time as a registrant of free parking. It was shortly after the mayor granted the privilege to “verified city of San Diego residents.” The fees are waived in designated lots only. Sadly, they don’t include the expansive lot at the Organ Pavilion.
The online registration process is annoying and fraught with confusing options. It comes with a $5 fee and requires you to upload an image of your driver’s license in addition to the make, model and color of your vehicle. Oddly, it also asks for an emergency contact.
It took me 20 minutes to register, thanks in part to a connection error on the site that prevented me from initially hopping onto it.
Figuring out where you can park for free requires a lesson in Balboa Park geography. Fees for registered residents are waived for three years in lots named Pepper Grove, Palisades, Upper Inspiration Point and others.
How many San Diegans know where those lots are located? A link explaining their locations vaguely appears on the registration website.
Mayor Gloria’s attempt to assuage his angry constituents and detractors by partially backtracking on this shortsighted parking policy hasn’t lessened the financial blow to park enthusiasts. Many are still demanding that he gut paid parking everywhere inside the park and along its perimeter streets for all visitors, regardless of residency.
“We don’t have to pay for parking in our parks back home,” said Sarah McMillan, who was visiting with her parents from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. She fumbled through the prompts at the kiosk while trying to pay in the Federal parking lot, located behind the Comic Con Museum.
“I can’t figure this out,” she quipped after standing in line for 15 minutes.
At the Upper Inspiration Point parking lot, located in front of the Old Naval Hospital, a frustrated Carissa Nichols, visiting with her boyfriend and siblings from Tempe, Arizona, said they were double-charged at that pay station. She asked several people in the area if they knew how to obtain a refund.
Nobody had answers.
Thx much Frank Sabatini, Jr. for this very well-written expose of the absolute fiasco of paid parking in Balboa Park. It’s a must-read for City Council Members and the Mayor and his staff. Please email this article to your council member, and the Mayor’s office (at mayortoddgloria@sandiego.gov), and share with friends, colleagues, and neighbors.
One would think that along with citizens and visitors, the museums and restaurants and great institutions within Balboa Park would gather their members and philanthropists and clients and speak publicly with one voice to the elected hacks who have dreamed up this nightmare of parking fees in Balboa Park.
For now we are stuck with bollixed expensive parking in Balboa Park — compounded by required pre-registration (and a fee); the hilarious “naming” of distant parking areas where, if one were familiar with those monikers and locations, one could pay less or not at all; built-in invasion of privacy with required systematized pre-identification of license plates; on-site parking meters that may work by magic or not at all and create frustration and anxiety in Park sheeple who want to do the right thing.
I’m still waiting to hear about offices of the Mayor and every Councilmember symbolically cutting their large well-paid staffs as a sign of shared pain in meeting the budget deficit. I’m thinking this issue alone — not even counting the trash collection debacle — will guarantee a clean sweep of present office-holders after the next City election.
Thank you to Frank Sabatini, Jr. for raising this issue. I organize San Diegans Over 50, a meetup group in San Diego and have terminated my Spring and Summer museum tours and historical walks in Balboa Park due to the City of San Diego Highway Robbery. There is now way retired seniors can afford this sort of nonsense. Sadly, the museums where we used to pay $20 a person to get behind the scenes tours will also lose our business. On average, San Diegans Over 50 brought in 20 seniors for those tours. But no longer thanks to the greed of Todd Gloria and his cronies. Think what that is doing to the museums, shops, and food places in Balboa Park.
I went to Balboa Park on Saturday afternoon and signed up online and paid $5 so that I could get the resident rate. I took me over 1/2 hour to figure it out on my phone. Then after all that I got an email saying the resident rate will be approved witin 48 hours, and could not be used immediately.
Then I had to pay $10 for 4 hours which is the lowest rate for non-resident. It took me 3 times trying and 5 minutes to pay at the kiosk. I had to pay for 4 hours minimum, even though I was only there less than 1 hour. Very frustrating.
Recommendation: Sign up 2 days before, and arrive 30 minutes early to give yourself time to figure out how to pay.