Facing public outrage, San Diego scales back plan to charge for parking in Balboa Park

Backlash from frequent users of Balboa Park has prompted city officials to significantly shrink the proposed cost of new annual parking passes that will go on sale in January when daily and hourly parking fees take effect.

The fight over the cost of annual passes is the latest controversy in the chaotic, monthslong process of Mayor Todd Gloria and the City Council figuring out how to raise millions by charging to park in Balboa Park.

When council members approved the daily and hourly fees in September, they tried to soften the impact on the park’s most frequent visitors by demanding the mayor come up with a plan for discounted quarterly and annual passes.

When that plan was unveiled recently, it was harshly criticized by frequent users like bridge clubs, dance troupes, lawn bowlers, model railroad enthusiasts, users of Balboa Park gyms and others.

The Balboa Park Committee, a panel that represents park users and organizations, unanimously rejected the plan last week and demanded concessions.

That prompted meetings this week between mayoral aides and staffers for Council President Joe LaCava and other council members — meetings that led to the much lower annual pass prices and a minor adjustment to quarterly passes.

The revised proposal, which is slated for a vote Tuesday by the City Council, slashes in half the proposed annual parking pass fee for city residents from $300 to $150. For nonresidents, the proposed annual fee drops from $375 to $300.

On quarterly passes, the proposed fee for residents drops from $80 to $60 — but the proposed fee for nonresidents rises from $100 to $120.

The city also plans to offer monthly passes for $30 to residents and $40 to nonresidents. Plans for those prices haven’t changed since they were first proposed last week.

Frequent park users gave the city’s retreat mixed reviews shortly after it was revealed Thursday afternoon, when the staff report for Tuesday’s council hearing was posted online.

“That’s a step in the right direction for sure,” said David Walters, club manager of the park’s Redwood Bridge Club.

But Walters noted that a recent poll of his members found the highest price most members could afford for an annual pass was $150 or $200, making the $300 cost of passes for nonresidents too high. And Walters said roughly 40% of his members live outside the city.

Patty Riddle, chair of the Balboa Park/Morley Field Recreation Council, was more blunt.

“The $300 for nonresidents is just awful,” she said.

Riddle said the higher price will fall particularly hard on seniors and low-income people.

She said many of the young people who play badminton, table tennis and volleyball at the Balboa Park Municipal Gym and the Balboa Park Activity Center are low-income and come from outside the city.

Both Walters and Riddle said it was disappointing that the city retreat didn’t honor the three concessions requested last week by the Balboa Park Committee.

The committee had asked that the resident annual permit be less than $100, that 50% discounts on all passes be given to seniors and low-income people and that free parking be allowed for buses bringing young people to educational events.

Peter Comiskey, who leads a group of 23 park organizations called the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership, said before the city’s retreat was announced that his group is of two minds on the passes.

The partnership opposes completely the concept of paid parking in Balboa Park, contending it will notably reduce visitation at cultural institutions like museums.

Operators of the park’s Marie Hitchcock Puppet Theater said they have already seen a roughly 20% attendance drop they attribute to people hearing about the new parking fees in the media and not realizing they don’t take effect until Jan. 5.

But Comiskey noted that city officials have honored requests from park leaders that discounted permits be offered, that there be some free parking and that a tram from the free parking lot operate frequently.

“We’re pleased guests will still be able to come to the park,” Comiskey said.

He didn’t return a call Thursday seeking his reaction to the city’s retreat on the proposed cost of annual passes.

The daily and hourly parking fees the council approved in September include charging people living outside the city $16 a day to park in lots closest to the park’s center and $10 a day to park in lots a bit farther out.

City residents will pay $8 a day to park in the most convenient lots but will also get the option of paying only $5 if they park there for less than four hours. And city residents will pay $5 a day to park in lots farther out.

All park users will be allowed to park for free for three hours at Inspiration Point, an overflow lot at the park’s southern edge where trams will take people to the park’s more popular destinations.

After three hours, residents will have to pay $5 a day to park at Inspiration Point, and nonresidents will have to pay $10 a day.

The annual, quarterly and monthly permits will allow unlimited parking in all Balboa Park lots, regardless of location, as well as along designated on-park roadways.

Passes will not be valid in the San Diego Zoo parking lot or on streets located outside of Balboa Park boundaries where meters will be added, such as Park Boulevard and Sixth Avenue.

The revenue the city expects to generate from parking fees and permits in Balboa Park continues to dwindle with each change.

San Diego’s budget for the ongoing fiscal year includes $15.5 million in projected revenue from parking in Balboa Park — $3 million from the zoo and $12.5 million from the rest of the park.

But the staff report released Thursday shows that the expected $12.5 million figure has now dropped by more than three-quarters to just $2.9 million — a $9.6 million reduction that could leave a budget hole.

Part of that reduction in projected revenue is a result of the council deciding in September to delay the start date of fees from October to January to allow for a resident verification system needed to give discounts.

The council also made some concessions on rates and decided that San Diego High School students will be able to park for free.

The staff report doesn’t make clear how much of the $9.6 million reduction would come from those concessions and how much of it would come from the retreat on proposed fees for annual passes.

Some council members said last week that the chaotic way parking fees have been handled in Balboa Park makes them reluctant to pursue parking fees at city beaches and Mission Bay.

Tuesday’s council meeting is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at City Hall, 202 C St.