HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/7/2022 Item 6a, Powers
Delgado, Adriana
From:Will Powers <drwill.powers7@gmail.com>
Sent:Thursday, June
To:Webmaster
Subject:Re: City of San Luis Obispo, CA: New Parking Structure Means Proposed Parking Rates
Increases in 2023, 2025
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Kill the Golden goose.
Stupid.
On Thu, Jun 2, 2022, 1:58 PM City of San Luis Obispo <webmaster@slocity.org> wrote:
New Parking Structure Means Proposed Parking Rates Increases in 2023, 2025
On Tuesday, City Council will consider public parking rates changes for next year that will fund a long-planned fourth parking
structure downtown.
Post Date: 06/02/2022 1:52 PM
To
help
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To achieve our community’s vision for downtown San Luis Obispo and build a fourth parking structure, the City of San
Luis Obispo is proposing downtown parking rate increases for 2023 and 2025.
City Council will consider the proposed rate increases on Tuesday, June 7 as part of the FY 2022-23 Supplemental
Budget discussion.
“We know that raising parking rates now would be very challenging for many. However, if we don’t increase rates
next year, we will not be able to improve or repair existing parking infrastructure and build the new Cultural Arts
Parking Structure that is key to helping us achieve the community’s vision for downtown San Luis Obispo,” said
Gaven Hussey, the City’s Parking Program Manager.
The City’s Downtown Concept Plan incorporates the community’s vision for downtown and guides both public and
private actions and investment through 2042. The community has envisioned a more welcoming downtown that will
serve as the cultural hub of San Luis Obispo. Key to promoting an inclusive and easy-to-navigate downtown: Better
parking.
The City is also working to expand cultural, historical, and artistic opportunities, including enhancing the downtown
Cultural Arts District. A high priority for this effort is construction of the long-planned Cultural Arts District Parking
Structure, formerly known as the Palm-Nipomo Parking Structure, which will provide adequate off-street parking to
the community and will create the necessary infrastructure to bring the rest of the Downtown Concept Plan to life,
including space for the future SLO Rep Theatre.
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“The City does not use taxpayer dollars to fund parking improvements. Instead, when you pay for parking downtown,
that money goes to the City’s Parking Fund, which is used to pay for new structures, repairs, and other parking
improvements,” Hussey said. “For years, we’ve been saving for a fourth parking structure, but the shutdown during
the most challenging times of the pandemic really hurt the Parking Fund. At the same time, we are seeing
unprecedented cost increases for construction. The bottom line: If we do not increase rates next year, we will not be
able to improve or repair existing parking infrastructure and build the new Cultural Arts Parking Structure.”
For years, the City has been collecting parking rates and fees in the Parking Fund, saving up $13.9 million for this
project, and expected to save even more until the pandemic hit. With the March 2020 shutdown due to the COVID-
19 pandemic, the Parking Fund did not collect $4 million because the City supported urgent and immediate needs for
downtown businesses. This included free parking, a parklet program, and deferred parking rate increases, all of
which resulted in less funding for the parking structure and ongoing repairs to existing parking infrastructure.
There are also unprecedented cost increases in the construction industry, increased costs for borrowing money, and
the need to demonstrate to funding entities the City’s plans for maintenance and preservation of existing assets.
If approved, the parking rates will increase in July 2023:
2-hour street parking in the main downtown core will be $4 per hour (up from about $2)
10-hour street parking in the outer downtown area will be $3 per hour (up from $1.50)
Structure parking will be $3 per hour or a maximum daily rate of $12 (up from $1.50 per hour or $6
maximum daily)
Public Input/Feedback
Anyone can provide public comment during the City Council meeting in person. Public comment prior to the meeting
must be received 3 hours in advance of the meeting via:
Mail - Delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Address letters to the City Clerk's Office at 990 Palm Street, San
Luis Obispo, California, 93401.
Email - Submit Public Comments via email to emailcouncil@slocity.org. In the body of your email, please
include the date of the meeting and the item number (if applicable). Emails will not be read aloud during the
meeting.
Voicemail - Call (805) 781-7164 and leave a voicemail. Please state and spell your name, the agenda item
number you are calling about, and leave your comment. Verbal comments must be limited to 3 minutes.
Voicemails will not be played during the meeting.
To receive updates from the City, please register for City News e-notifications on the City’s website at slocity.org/e-
notification or follow the City of San Luis Obispo on social media.
Media Contact: Gaven Hussey, the City’s Parking Program Manager, 805.781.7234, ghussey@slocity.org
Click here for more information
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