A year after jacking up the costs to park downtown, the City of Santa Barbara wants to do it again.
The city is proposing to increase hourly fees to park in city lots from $2.50 an hour to $3 an hour, and reduce the amount of free parking from 75 minutes to 60 minutes, to raise about $2.7 million in annual revenue.
“I don’t want to see it raised,” said Nick Solano, who along with some friends was enjoying a lunch downtown on Wednesday. “I think it’s kind of outrageous the price they have it right now. They need people to come downtown, and they are not going to come downtown if they keep raising the price up.”
The city has proposed the rate increase because it is facing a $2.9 million deficit in its downtown parking fund. It’s one of several increases in downtown parking designed to make up the shortage.
The city’s Finance Committee reviewed a series of proposals at Tuesday’s meeting and made a recommendation to the full City Council to consider.
The cost of a lost ticket is proposed to jump from $20 to $33. The Amtrak train depot lot is proposed to rise from $5 for 24 hours to $10 for 24 hours.
Santa Barbara City Councilwoman Meagan Harmon, whose district includes parts of the downtown area, said the city has few choices.
“This change is not proposed lightly,” Harmon said. “We know that affordable hourly parking is critical for our local businesses and an important driver of a vibrant downtown core.”
She explained that there was a significant loss in revenue from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is clear that our downtown parking operation is not financially sustainable at the current fee levels,” Harmon said. “So, while in my view increasing fees, even minimally, is always a last resort, I believe this proposal strikes an appropriate balance between the affordable parking rates and meaningful free period we all love and appreciate, and the necessity of ensuring sustainable operations in our downtown lots over the long term.”
As part of the fee increase, the city also plans to pilot a program that allows downtown businesses to pay $500 in annual fees to be able to validate parking for customers.
The business could choose to subsidize two or three hours for their customers. The city would then bill the business at the end of the month for whatever hours the customers had their parking validated.
“At the end of the month, we round up all those charges and we’re able to bill the business for that,” Sarah Clark, downtown parking manager for the city, said at a recent city Finance Committee meeting. “The business is basically able to pick up the tab for their customers for parking if that is something they want to do.”
Councilman Eric Friedman said he supports the increase in downtown lots.
“It’s never ideal for this, but we do have structural challenges,” Councilman Eric Friedman said.
He said there needs to be a longer discussion about how to address parking downtown.
The city also is proposing new fees at the airport. The city has proposed a $2,972 Aviation Commercial Activity Permit and a $2,972 Aviation Non-Commercial Activity Permit. The non-commercial fees would apply to events such as air shows. The commercial fees would apply to things such as independent flight training.
“It seems like an assault on general aviation at the airport,” pilot Robert Palmer said. “I think we all want a healthy, robust environment at the airport that allows for a broad range of activities.”
The airport also has proposed raising parking fees, including from $1.25 to $2 for the short-term lot after a 15-minute free period. The long-term lot would increase from $1.25 to $2.