Two weeks ago, the Paso Robles City Council and its legal team began a review of the city's paid parking program after Templeton resident Gary Lehrer served the city with a cease-and-desist letter.
Lehrer says community members called on him to address their parking grievances.
“When I saw there was a need for somebody to be active, I had no choice. I had to do this,” Lehrer said.
That’s when City Manager Ty Lewis says the city council put a halt to paid parking downtown so they could conduct a review of their practices over the past few years.
“The city attorney and I initiated a complete and thorough review of all the actions that the city council and the community has ever taken on the parking program, dating back to approximately 2018-2019. As part of that review, the city attorney team identified a procedural error with recording the downtown parking map,” Lewis explained.
He says that although they concluded Lehrer’s cease-and-desist order was not legally enforceable, they recognized the spirit of it and took action, evaluating past practices and admitting to a procedural error regarding a parking map.
“The council admitted that, ‘Hey, we made an error. It was a technical error but nonetheless an error.' And so the city council directed staff, based upon our recommendations, to go back to what the government code allowed,” Lewis said.
The code allowed for 12 months' worth of refunds related to parking fees and citations. This will allow those who paid for parking or received a citation between February 6, 2023, and February 6, 2024, to request a refund.
While the refund webpage is not yet available, it will be accessible via prcity.com.
City Council also stated that they plan to move forward with their proposed parking changes beginning April 5. These changes include:
- A new parking rate of $1/hour, with no free period
- Municipal code changes
- Implementation of better signage
