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SAN DIEGO (CNS) — Attendance at Balboa Park’s museums are down 34% on average since paid parking went into effect inside San Diego’s urban park, according to data released Tuesday by the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership.

In the analysis released Tuesday, the partnership found that between January and March of this year, attendance is down by that average of 34% compared to the previous year, with some institutions dropping by 60% over the same period.

“We’ve appreciated the city’s recent willingness to listen and take initial steps in response to community concerns,” Balboa Park Cultural Partnership Executive Director Peter Comiskey said. “However, the latest data make clear that those changes are not reversing the decline in visitation, and the impacts on our institutions are becoming more serious. We are urging additional action by our regional leaders before potentially irreversible damages take hold, and jobs and beloved programs or even organizations are lost.”

The report comes out as Mayor Todd Gloria’s draft budget for fiscal year 2027 proposes slashing arts funding by more than $11 million as a way to grapple with a structural deficit of more than $118 million.

Some of the park’s larger institutions predict more than $10 million lost in revenue from the lowered attendance alone, and jobs and program losses are a real threat, Comiskey said.

Visitors to Balboa Park were asked to pay to park their vehicles in city lots starting in January, breaking a tradition of more than 100 years of the city’s crown jewel being free for those in private vehicles.

San Diego residents are now able to purchase a monthly, quarterly or annual parking pass at a discounted rate by visiting sandiego.thepermitportal.com/. Residents can pay $30 for a monthly parking pass, $60 for a quarterly pass or $150 for an annual one. Non-residents can pay $40, $120 or $300 for the same levels.

The fiscal year 2026 budget passed last summer anticipated $15.5 million in parking revenue from Balboa Park. That number assumed $12.5 million in fee parking in Balboa Park and at least $3 million from zoo parking.

A revised figure presented to the City Council in November instead found the non-zoo parking might bring in just $2.9 million, or a decrease of $9.6 million from initial estimates.

The city originally planned to begin charging for parking in October, but delays prevented that and three months of revenue from happening. Expected parking rates have dropped as well.

The parking passes come under three pricing tiers, Levels 1, 2, and 3, based on demand and proximity:

— Level 1 lots, located in the core of the Central Mesa area, would be subject to the highest rate — $16 per day and $10 for up to four hours for nonresidents and $8 per day and $5 for up to four hours for city residents. These include Space Theater, Casa de Balboa, Alcazar, Organ Pavilion, Bea Evenson, Palisades and South Carousel;

— Level 2 lots would be priced at $10 per day for nonresidents and $5 per day for residents. These include Pepper Grove, Federal, Upper Inspiration Point and Marston Point;

— Level 3 lots would also be priced at $10 per day with the first three hours free, with a resident rate of $5 per day with the first three hours free. This includes the lower Inspiration Point lot.

The Office of the Independent Budget Analyst estimated revenues in this fiscal year from the non-zoo parking would be close to $4 million, still well short of plans.

The zoo, which operates on an independent lease from the city, will allow members to continue to park for free. For non-members and non-residents, general parking is $16 per vehicle, per day, $44 daily for oversized vehicles per day. City of San Diego resident rates are half that.

Revenues from the parking fees paid within the park must be spent on Balboa Park. The funds can support ongoing maintenance, infrastructure, and visitor amenities and may include road repaving, lighting upgrades, sign improvements and landscaping.

Gloria backed off some of the parking fees in February, citing overwhelming negative feedback.

City residents who have verified their address will again be able to park for free in the Pepper Grove, Federal, Upper Inspiration Point, Lower Inspiration Point, Marston Point, Palisades and Bea Evenson lots.

“Good governing also means listening. I’ve heard from residents and from members of the City Council about how this program is affecting San Diegans who love Balboa Park as much as I do,” Gloria said.

“That feedback matters, and it’s why I am eliminating parking fees for city residents in select lots in the park. This change will reduce revenue, and I have received a commitment from the City Council president as well as other council members to identify other service-level reductions in order to keep the budget balanced.”

Verified San Diego residents will still be charged to park in premium lots such as the Space Theater, Casa de Balboa, Alcazar, Organ Pavilion and South Carousel lots. The cost is $5 for up to four hours or $8 for a full day. Enforcement will now end at 6 p.m., instead of 8 p.m.

More than 3,000 San Diegans have registered to be verified for the resident free parking program, and the city has collected nearly $700,000 for operations and maintenance in Balboa Park.

Despite these changes, Comiskey and the cultural partnership said more must be done before summer, busy season for the park and the museums and cultural institutions within.

“The data show we are at a critical moment,” Comiskey said. “As we approach the summer tourism season, we need a clear, region-wide recovery solution that restores accessibility, rebuilds public trust, and sends a strong `welcome back’ message to residents and visitors alike.”

Copyright 2026, City News Service, Inc.

San Diego County opened its eighth crisis stabilization unit in El Cajon on Monday, providing the same short-term resource for East County residents that has helped relieve pressure on hospital emergency departments in communities to the north and south.

The newest facility replaces a former county assessor’s satellite office at South Magnolia and West Douglas avenues, near the city’s community center and library.

The El Cajon $28 million crisis unit has 12 recliners and a freshly renovated space for private consultation, accommodating residents in need of immediate mental health services for up to 24 hours.

Pioneered in a handful of local hospitals, the county began opening stand-alone crisis units in Vista and Oceanside in 2021 and 2022. The pair of locations were a direct response to Tri-City Medical Center closing its behavioral health unit and crisis center in 2018, citing the need for prohibitively expensive repairs and difficulties with staffing.

Another unit attached in Chula Vista, attached to Bayview Hospital, a behavioral health facility, opened in 2023 with an additional unit attached to the emergency department at Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center in March.

Nadia Privara-Brahms, the county’s behavioral health director, said during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday morning that the heavy investment in crisis centers has drastically reduced mental health care visits to local emergency departments. County data for the 2024-25 budget year estimates that 11,000 adults treated at crisis stabilization units were diverted from inpatient care and 14%, approximately 1,800, were connected to inpatient care.

“Countywide, we have seen that this model of care is working,” Privara-Brahms said. “Across the CSUs locally, we saw 85% of admissions diverted from inpatient care.”

County Supervisor Joel Anderson, whose district includes most of East County, kept the pressure on for a center to the east capable of delivering the same kind of results.

“Right now, many of these folks end up in our emergency rooms, and they’re getting great service at the highest cost,” Anderson said.

Emergency departments, he added, can only do so much to focus on providing mental health care when they must also treat the full range of other medical needs from heart attacks and strokes to broken bones and chronic disease.

“Here, we’re laser-focused on that mental health, and we’ll be able to turn people around, stabilize them, and send them home,” Anderson said.

A key innovation with stand-alone crisis units has been the ability of law enforcement officers and crisis response team members to deliver residents picked up on 5150 holds for evaluation, skipping emergency departments when a patient needs mental health care, but not other services. A 5150 hold occurs when a first responder suspects that a person may be a danger to themselves or others or gravely disabled.

Because all emergency departments must operate on a triage basis, continuously moving the most-critical cases to the front of the line regardless of how long those with less-immediate medical problems have been waiting, 5150 holds are notorious for their ability to take first responders off their beats for hours per incident.

The county’s data tracking system indicates that drop-offs at crisis units take 20 to 25 minutes, contributing significantly to getting law enforcement officers and crisis team members back in service much more quickly than was previously the case.