City Council approves parking overhaul including higher rates, Sunday enforcement

Parking meters on a commercial street in San Diego Courtesy of the city The San Diego City Council Monday approved a package of changes to the municipal code intended to improve management of on-street parking and increase parking rates Monday s action does not the directly change the fee schedule but does allow future increases The package will allow the city to charge more during high-traffic times or during special events and to charge for parking on Sundays In July the Sustainability and Mobility Department contracted with Fehr Peers a traffic engineering and transportation planning consulting firm which performed a detailed analysis and prepared a series of parking management recommendations outlining the measures needed for an effective and efficient parking management framework in the city according to a city report According to the city staff will be required to consult with and provide solutions for residents who rely on regulated street parking due to a lack of off-street solutions before parking meter enforcement expands to Sundays Plans to implement recommendations for management of city-owned parking lots and facilities are still in advancement San Diego is also updating fees for valet parking permit applications and permits for blocking parking spaces during construction Additionally the management of Public Parking Districts will also be changed with the intent of changing how parking meter funds are spent by those districts Parking meter revenues are limited by law to specific areas and uses They must be reinvested to benefit parking and mobility-related requirements within the meter zone where they were collected the city declaration stated City News Institution contributed to this article