County grand jury unloads on city of San Diego's parking program

San Diego must improve transparency regarding how it utilizes parking revenue and make large-scale improvements to inform motorists of their parking options, according to a recently published report from the San Diego County Grand Jury.

The report released this month states that drivers hunting for affordable parking spots in the city “face a confusing array of rules, meters, apps and signage” which is likely to be exacerbated by fluctuating parking policies, including a recent rate hike that doubled parking meter fees.

San Diego has recently doubled the rate, to $2.50 an hour, for many of its existing meters and is considering charging drivers to park in Balboa Park and in some beach communities as well, all in an effort to raise revenue to help balance a $258 million budget shortfall in the next fiscal year.

To help drivers navigate the shifting public parking landscape, the grand jury recommended improvements to parking signage across the city that will clearly indicate where drivers can park and how much they can expect to pay.

The report says privately owned parking lots should be required to display their rates in a way that is visible to motorists from the street, rather than only once drivers pull up to a payment machine. Public parking signage presents many of the same issues, the report states, with drivers unlikely to easily know how much they will pay and what form of payment will be accepted.

Special events held at Petco Park further complicate the matter, as signage associated with events at the venue are inconsistent with typical city requirements for special events. While city policies require “No Parking” zone signage to be posted 72 hours before an event, these rules are not consistently followed for Petco Park events, according to the report.

The grand jury said many of its recommendations were also reflected in a parking study the city commissioned earlier this year.

The report also called to disband all of the city’s Community Parking Districts — which advise the city on parking and transportation matters — and have community planning groups fulfill those duties. The report alleged CPDs were lax in reporting what parking meter revenues were collected and that much of its revenue was spent on administrative costs.

The grand jury found that the city also lacked transparency in how it handled fees collected from metered spaces outside of the CPDs.

“The city should take immediate steps to report revenues collected from all parking meters and how it uses those revenues,” according to the report.