HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/7/2023 Item 6a, Maulhardt
Holly Maulhardt <
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Downtown Parking Rates
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Hello City Council Members,
I am emailing to express my frustration with the changes to SLO's downtown parking policies.
Cost:
$4/hour is too much to allow for visitors to appreciate, experience and patronize our downtown spaces and vendors.
Recently, I got my haircut downtown at Wallflower and watched as I racked up $8 in parking. I really wanted to pop into
Hands and look for a birthday gift for a friend, however, being so close to the next $4 hour charge I decided to just head
home, save the money and buy a gift online. I would have rode my bike (I know that's what I'm supposed to do),
however, I was coming back from an appointment in Pismo and did not have time to go home and change out my
transportation. I was thinking about a family that stops downtown to get lunch and then maybe wants to take their kids
down to the creek like we used to do....they may very well be deterred if this costs them another $4...and how sad
would that be? These costs matter and they change peoples behaviors in ways that will impact our small businesses.
Low/wage/minimum wage workers:
My 16 year old son was employed at Old SLO BBQ before and after the rate change. He would make every attempt to
find free parking and walk into the downtown core, but sometimes that just wasn't possible. For shifts that ended at 9 or
10 pm, we were not comfortable with him riding across town on his bike in the dark. For a 3 hour shift where he was
getting paid $18/hour, there were a few times he paid $12 in parking. He's since stopped working for a few different
reasons, with parking costs/hassle tipping the scale for him. How do our downtown restaurants/businesses provide
reasonably priced food/services if they can't employ minimum wage/low wage workers? One way to help restaurant
workers is to go back to the 6pm parking meter cutoff, this would make a big impact.
The Residential Free Hour Permit:
As I was reading the parking article in the Tribune, I thought, finally we're getting to the residential free one-hour permit
section and certainly the city employee being interviewed will explain how we're supposed to use it....but no...I think
the take home from the article was that it was 'confusing'. I've polled most everyone I know and there's been no
consensus among users. I "think' we are supposed to pull into Palm Street garage, immediately start a one hour timer (I
use my phone, so hopefully I'm not on a call or just don't forget) and then hope we hear the timer go off after an hour
(what about if you are attending a mass or a funeral or in a a movie??) and then open the app and start paying....is that
right???? No one really knows.......would love for you all to take a poll amongst council members and see who gets it
right.
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Our downtown is a cool place- better than many other downtowns. Some may argue that justifies a higher cost and if
you can't afford it, then you'll go somewhere else. That just seems wrong to me and really contrary to what SLO and a
thriving/diverse community is all about.
Please reduce parking rates, bring back the universal free hour, go back to the 6pm enforcement cutoff and free Sundays
and come up with ways to pay in the garages that are sensical.
Thanks,
Holly Maulhardt
260 Westmont Ave
SLO, 93405
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