City News Service – CBS8 / August 26, 2026
The San Diego City Council’s Rules Committee unanimously approved an ordinance Wednesday, Aug. 26, that would maintain free parking at local beaches and Mission Bay “in perpetuity.”
The ordinance must go before the full council before it becomes law.
Committee members Council President Joe LaCava and Councilman Raul Campillo authored the ordinance, while the full committee restricted it to city residents only and removed a 10-year sunset clause.
“Councilmember Campillo’s initial proposal aligned with my held belief that beaches and Mission Bay should be accessible and free to San Diegans,” LaCava said. “By repositioning this from a ballot measure to an ordinance, I saw the opportunity to save taxpayers nearly $1 million through council action and not a public vote. Advancing this proposal ensures that these prized public parking spaces will be available at no cost to San Diegans.”
San Diego does not charge for city-owned beach and bay parking lots. Wednesday’s proposal is intended to ensure that they remain free of charge for San Diego residents.
“Together, the council president and I brought this item forward to make sure the city learns from the lessons that the parking fees at Balboa Park pointed out,” Campillo said. “This ordinance is about ensuring that access to our most treasured public spaces remains clear and protected for the people of San Diego — and it’s just one part of a larger series of transparency and accountability initiatives I will be bringing forward in an effort to build trust and clean up City Hall to ensure we have the right protocols in place moving forward.”
According to Campillo, the ordinance would not apply to existing parking meters, and would not inhibit the city’s ability to cite parking violations nor prevent it from regulating commercial activity or permitted events.
“Mission Bay Park is a regional park that serves residents from across the entire city of San Diego, not only those who live in Pacific Beach,” said Marcella Bothwell, chair of the Pacific Beach Planning Group. “Free, accessible parking on city-owned lots is essential to equitable public access for San Diegans citywide including families, workers, seniors and visitors from every neighborhood who rely on these coastal resources for recreation, health, and community life.
“Codifying free beach and bay parking in the municipal code will provide needed certainty, protect equitable coastal access for residents throughout the city, and avoid the kind of public-trust erosion seen in recent paid-parking experiments elsewhere in San Diego,” Bothwell added.
A deeply unpopular rollout of paid parking in Balboa Park began in January, with Mayor Todd Gloria almost immediately backing off some of the fees — which were approved by the City Council — then approving a residents-only free parking pass. In June, during the city’s budget process, the council voted to end all paid parking in Balboa Park by the end of 2026.
According to a coalition of the museums and cultural centers in the park, the paid parking led directly to attendance plummeting by a third.
However, the removal of paid Balboa Park parking — and a reduction in single family trash fees — left the cash-strapped city in a bind, as the budget had been balanced on these projected revenues.
Libraries were the first target, but half of all Mission Bay bathrooms were also shuttered to save money. Public outcry and $50,000 in discretionary council district spending each from LaCava and Councilwoman Jen Campbell reopened those through the end of the year.
If the proposed ordinance were to pass, no parking revenues could be collected from San Diego residents for future budget-balancing processes.
Oh My GOSH!!!!
Why can’t it be free to all people??? So will the City be paying humans, salary + benefits into the City retirement fund, seven days a week, and at least two shifts to cover the hours day and night, to check the ID to determine where the attendees live? The City of SD should have free parking to encourage visitors to spend their money in the shops, restaurants, museums, Space Theater, Zoo, for concerts in the park. JOBS and some of the attractions are at risk, due to lack of ongoing revenue! Campillo is walking a very thin line trying to figure out if he’s for the people or not. Both LaCava and Campillo are termed out in Dec. 2028. I’ve not heard if LaCava is looking for a new job within the city of SD, but I have heard Campillo is looking for the Mayor’s job Next election. He’s not voted FOR the people on many previous City Council Agenda Items, he’s voted to “go along to get along” with the other Council reps and Mayor until most recently. Keep an eye on his past voting history, and future voting history until election time, to try to determine if he’s For The People, or TO The People.
The Coastal Commission will never okay a tiered-system of paid parking at beaches. Everyone equally should have access to the coast.
Free parking != Access
The beach is the new commons. We have to maintain free parking so a bunch of kooks can arrive early and stay parked all day, causing anyone that wants to sleep in or has other things to do and arrives later in the day to circle the lot endlessly because there is no turnover. We certainly can’t have bike infrastructure or public transit routes making it easier to get to the beach because anyone without a car isn’t part of the community and doesn’t deserve to go to the beach.
I’m all about bike infrastructure and it can for sure be better, yet I to ride to OB, PB/MB all the time from Hillcrest just fine.
The solution to people parking all day is a time limit. Say, 3 – 4 hours free. That way more people have the opportunity to use the free parking.
And nobody is there all day.
“And nobody is there all day.”
I thought this was the OB Rag? Clearly you do not know anything about Ocean Beach and its beach parking lots.
What a mess and what could possibly go wrong? Well, jeez–once there are meters there it’s a slippery slope to adding San Diego residents at some future point. Well jeez, are the really free for residents or do we have to pay to sign up to be a resident and then try to reserve a “free” spot like the park? (I may have that wrong but at one time that was the model.) But over all it’s just not fair and the parking should be free for everyone–the city still stands to get some revue from people paying the beach businesses. By complexifying it they are killing it.
This is a good idea to a point. We shouldn’t be charging non city residents to park at the beaches and bay. A survey of Mission Bay Park visitors showed that 38% came from outside the city limits, and it didn’t survey visitors from outside the county. We not only saw how clunky the resident permit process was at Balboa Park, we also saw attendance plummeting for the vendors. Why repeat? A large portion of the leaseholder revenues around the park go to capital improvement projects within Mission Bay Park. If their revenues take a hit, necessary park improvements will suffer, perhaps outpacing the
parking revenues. And, of course, all the employees of those leaseholders that live outside the city, will get hit. For example, parking lots immediately south and east of Belmont Park will be pay to park for non residents. What do you imagine will happen to business for those attractions, shops, and restaurants if many of those customers choose not to pay to park?
There is a better way to balance the city budget than imposing more fees or closing restrooms.
Before the next budget cycle the city council should engage an independent, objective and experienced firm to audit the organizational structure, staffing, and existing revenue opportunities (like golf courses and boat moorings?) and create a zero-based business plan.
Right now wading through the rhetoric is getting nowhere. A city council candidate wants to slash and burn our way back to 2015. Sounds eerily like DOGE. The head of the Municipal
Employees Association vigorously defends the position of every member. Why not? That’s his job. But it does not make him especially objective.
Government can’t operate like a shareholder driven private enterprise. But, it can’t be an ATM either.