HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/7/2023 Item 6a, Brostman
Mark Brostman <
To:Pease, Andy; E-mail Council Website
Subject:Re: Downtown Parking Rates
With regards for the upcoming city council meeting, I am resubmitting an email that I sent in June of 2022 which
outlined my thoughts regarding the city parking rate increase. Unfortunately, we have seen businesses shut down since
this parking rate has been initiated. My family and friends have reduced downtown visitation, as I’m sure many other
locals have as well. While there are numerous variables at play, including the uncontrolled transient population and the
subsequent cleanliness and safety of the city, I’m sure the parking rates have also contributed.
See below for my email sent June 2022.
Hello,
I believe the proposed parking rate increase will be detrimental to downtown San Luis Obispo, workers,
community members, and tourists.
I believe the rate increase will deter visitation to the downtown area. The current parking rates are affordable
and can often be an after thought, which encourages people to visit, stay for an extended amount of time, and
encourages visitors to leave with positive thoughts and feelings about the city. With the drastic increase in
parking fees, I believe that people will feel that the city is nickel-and-diming them, which can leave visitors with
bad feelings towards the city, as well as potentially shortening their stay downtown. A shortened stay
downtown will have a huge impact on local business and it can hurt the city parking fund.
The rate increase will drastically affect downtown city workers. Most restaurant workers are making at or near
minimum wage. A huge jump in parking fees will ultimately reduce their take home rate which will hurt San Luis
Obispo’s adorability goals. One might suggest that businesses cover or assist with employee parking fees, but
this will negatively impact business owners and potentially cause them to increase their prices to stay afloat.
The aforementioned parking fee and business price increases will also discourage visitation downtown and
encourage visitation to surrounding businesses and areas which do not have high operating costs.
Finally, the optics of the proposed rate increase are very poor. We are living in an unprecedented time with
alarming inflation and a looming recession. Your goal as city council members is to encourage visitation and
business to downtown San Luis Obispo and I believe that by even proposing a rate increase, you have
damaged the downtown area.
On Tue, Jun 7, 2022 at 8:27 PM Mark Brostman < wrote:
Thank you for your email. If the majority of the correspondence that you have received regarding the parking rate
increase are not in favor of increasing rates, you and the rest of the city council should actually take into consideration
the majority view on this matter.
On Tue, Jun 7, 2022 at 4:02 PM Pease, Andy <apease@slocity.org> wrote:
Mark –
Thank you for writing. We have received considerable correspondence on this item, and I appreciate the
thoughtful comments and creative ideas. I understand the clerk’s office has provided links to correspondence
from staff, providing additional background and information.
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As I’ve read each comment and listened to voicemails, a wonderful love for our downtown comes out loud
and clear. City residents and folks from all over the county want downtown to thrive, and they want to be a
part of it, to shop, dine, stroll, play, see events and conduct business. There is concern about equity for
workers and fairness for locals in terms of parking rates, as well as concerns about staying on course for the
new parking structure.
At this time, I believe we need to continue with the parking structure as planned, but I do think there is
opportunity to consider funding options with a mix of increased rates as well as supplemental COVID relief
funding, surge pricing (to reflect high-impact parking times), equity pricing for low-wage earners better
efficiency of collections, revenue from parklets and so on. Of particular interest to me is retaining the first
hour free in the structures, at least for another year while we evaluate other options.
This evening, we’ll need to determine a baseline approach to ongoing revenue that we know will work for
financing; we can then take the next several months to evaluate our options and make adjustments in the
long-term. Thanks again for your feedback, and I look forward to ongoing engagement.
Andy
Andy Pease
pronouns she/her/hers
Council Member
Office of the City Council
990 Palm, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-3249
E apease@slocity.org
slocity.org
Stay connected with the City by signing up for e-notifications
From: Mark Brostman <
Sent: Saturday, June 4, 2022 6:16 AM
To: E-mail Council Website <emailcouncil@slocity.org>
Subject: Downtown Parking Rates
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Hello,
I believe the proposed parking rate increase will be detrimental to downtown San Luis Obispo business, workers,
community members, and tourists.
I believe the rate increase will deter visitation to the downtown area. The current parking rates are affordable and can
often be an after thought, which encourages people to visit, stay for an extended amount of time, and encourages
visitors to leave with positive thoughts and feelings about the city. With the drastic increase in parking fees, I believe
that people will feel that the city is nickle-and-diming them, which can leave visitors with bad feelings towards the
city, as well as potentially shortening their stay downtown. A shortened stay downtown will have a huge impact on
local business and it can hurt the city parking fund.
The rate increase will drastically affect downtown city workers. Most restaurant workers are making at or near
minimum wage. A huge jump in parking fees will ultimately reduce their take home rate which will hurt San Luis
Obispo’s adorability goals. One might suggest that businesses cover or assist with employee parking fees, but this will
negatively impact business owners and potentially cause them to increase their prices to stay afloat. The
aforementioned parking fee and business price increases will also discourage visitation downtown and encourage
visitation to surrounding businesses and areas which do not have high operating costs.
Finally, the optics of the proposed rate increase are very poor. We are living in an unprecedented time with alarming
inflation and a looming recession. Your goal as city council members is to encourage visitation and business to
downtown San Luis Obispo and I believe that by even proposing a rate increase, you have damaged the downtown
area.
--
Mark Brostman, PT, DPT
(248)-891-0301
--
Mark Brostman, PT, DPT
(248)-891-0301
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