By KAREN VELIE Facing a $3.8 million budget deficit, the City of Santa Barbara is discussing changes to its parking program, including raising rates and
Facing a $3.8 million budget deficit, the City of Santa Barbara is discussing changes to its parking program, including raising rates and eliminating or shortening free parking periods.The city operates 15 parking lots and structures. The city currently offers 75-minutes free parking in its lots and structures. As a result, the city reports 60% of those parking in the downtown lots do not pay for parking.
A year after the Santa Barbra City Council voted to raise its parking rate from $1.50 to $2.50 an hour, the council voted to raise the rate to $3 an hour.Business owners in the downtown have voiced concerns that increased parking fees will harm businesses. In downtown San Luis Obispo, where the city has raised the parking rate to $4 an hour, multiple business have closed or moved to locations outside the downtown parking zone, many pointing out a reduction in customers.
Further north, in Paso Robles, the city voted in November to eliminate free parking in an attempt to get the program to run in the black. However, the city council failed to abide by a state law regarding parking and had to pause the program.The comments below represent the opinion of the writer and do not represent the views or policies of CalCoastNews.com. Please address the Policies, events and arguments, not the person. Constructive debate is good; mockery, taunting, and name calling is not.
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