By Donna Frye
Last year, four councilmembers (LaCava, Foster, Moreno and Elo-Rivera) supported charging non-residents to pay to park at our beaches and Mission Bay Park and included it in their budget priority memos. Paid parking was being seriously considered as a potential revenue source for this year’s budget.
After lots of public opposition and media coverage, the city council decided not to move forward with this very bad idea.
The issue of paid beach and bay parking remained a topic of public discussion, however, due to concerns that it could easily resurface at any time, especially during the budget hearings.
Those on the council who opposed it, such as Councilmember Campillo, brought forward a proposal for a ballot measure to ensure that parking at our beaches and Mission Bay Park remained free.
On March 18, 2026 the Rules Committee held a meeting and voted to support Campillo’s motion to:
“Request that his office work with the City Attorney and Independent Budget Analyst to provide preliminary fiscal, operational, and legal analyses of the proposal and draft the framework for a ballot measure to for parking at beaches and bays to remain free in the City of San Diego and report back to the Rules Committee.”
The motion was seconded by Councilmember Moreno. The motion passed 3 to 2 with Council President La Cava in support and Councilmembers Lee and Elo-Rivera opposed.
Months have passed since that meeting and for a variety of reasons, such as the cost to have a public vote, the paid parking issue will not be on this year’s ballot.
Thankfully, there is a similar recommendation by Council President LaCava and Councilmember Campillo to address the public’s concerns. They are proposing to amend the City of San Diego’s Municipal Code to preserve free parking at our beaches and Mission Bay Park for the next 10 years.
That ordinance will be heard by the Rules Committee on Wednesday, August 26, at 9:00 a.m. and it is Item Number 3 on the agenda.
According to the staff report:
“The ordinance would apply only to City-owned parking lots that provide access to City beaches and Mission Bay and would not affect on-street parking meters, City-owned parking lots that are leased to non-City entities such as Sea World and hotels in Mission Bay or other parking programs outside of those lots. It would also not impact the City’s authority to otherwise manage or operate beach and bay parking lots, regulate commercial activities, issue permits for special events or other activities, or enforce parking-related regulations and issuing fines for associated violations at these parking lots.
There is no cost to the implementation of this ordinance as it preserves the status quo of free City-owned parking lots that provide access to City beaches and Mission Bay.
The ordinance contains a sunset date of December 31, 2036.”
Please let the Rules Committee members know that you support Item Number 3 – the proposal by Councilmember Campillo and Council President LaCava to preserve free public parking at our beaches and Mission Bay Park for the next 10 years.
You can attend the meeting in person, email your comments to CouncilCommittee@sandiego.gov or join the Meeting Webinar by computer, tablet, or Smartphone: https://sandiego.zoomgov.com/j/1604399420
To join by telephone:
Dial 1-669-254 5252
When prompted, input Webinar ID: 160 439 9420#
This sounds like it is only targeting city parking lots at the beach and bay.
What will stop them from putting meters in and around Mission Bay frontage roads and beach neighborhoods? I can support three to four hour limits during the day but I don’t trust Elo Rivera or Kent Lee to go away quietly when money is available.
Thanks very much for this update, as always, Donna.
Unlike paid parking in Balboa Park, I’m a bit conflicted about foreclosing for ever any option to charge for parking at our beaches and pays.
I keep thinking about what former City Manager Jack McGrory said at a recent community meeting: (to paraphrase him) “I don’t know of another city that doesn’t charge for parking at its beaches.” (Jack said this tin the context of finding legitimate sources of revenue for the city.)
While that’s probably an exaggerating, we all know from driving up and down the coast that many cities (and certainly the state), do charge for parking at beaches and bays (and National Monuments like Cabillo.)
It might be a good idea for city staff to gather the facts on municipal, state (and federal?) paid-parking policies at their beaches and bays, etc. , to better inform our council members and the public on this issue.
Perhaps we can charge for “premium” parking spaces closest to the beach and/or water?
Perhaps we can charge non-county residents for parking (though I oppose this option)?
Perhaps we can charge for parking during the peak visitation hours (weekends and holidays)?
When all is said and done, maybe the best, most equitable solution will be to prohibit paid parking for a reasonable number of years (10?) so as not to foreclose the option of paid parking should circumstances change radically in the future.
On a related issue, I do support time-limited parking for some lots, especially the OB parking lot near the lifeguard tower all days of the week, La Jolla Shores and maybe the lot closer to Dog Beach on weekends from 10-8 pm.