The City of Paso Robles on Tuesday voted to reinstitute its downtown paid parking program.
In a 3-2 vote, the city council voted to implement parking fees at a rate between $1 an hour and $5 an hour.
The city manager will make a recommendation regarding the hourly rate visitors pay when parking. That recommendation will then need to be approved by the city.
The city temporarily paused parking fees in downtown and associated enforcement on February 7 as the city ensured its compliance with associated laws and regulations.
Mayor John Hamon and councilmembers Sharon Roden and Steve Gregory voted in favor. Councilmembers Chris Bausch and Fred Strong voted not in favor.
The city previously allowed two hours of free parking. In November of last year, the city changed that, requiring visitors to pay at a rate of $1 an hour from the first minute.
At the time, Mayor Hamon cited the city's budget concerns as one reason for the change.
The council voted on three separate parking-related recommendations Tuesday night.
The second involved the implementation of signage for the new downtown parking program. That passed 3-2. Mayor Hamon and councilmembers Roden and Gregory again voted in favor.
The third recommendation was implementing a process to provide refunds of parking fees and citations related to parking in the downtown area from Feb. 6, 2023, to Feb. 6, 2024. It passed 3-2. Mayor Hamon and councilmembers Roden and Gregory again voted in favor.
