Parking rates in downtown San Luis Obispo have gone up since the pandemic, but now they're going back down.
George Drastal says he stopped visiting downtown regularly about a year ago.
“Street parking has just become unattainable because of the cost and time limits,” Drastal said.
He says the upcoming parking rate changes are a good start but could be better.
"I think a hybrid… lowering the rates and giving people an hour or two free on the streets would be a way to bump up business here," Drastal said.
San Luis Obispo City Public Works Director Matt Horn says the need for more parking has grown over the decades as the downtown area has grown.
“How we provide more volume of parking is by providing parking structures and off-street parking,” Horn said.
And that costs money.
Currently under construction, the Cultural Arts District Parking Structure, which will be the fourth parking structure downtown, has been in the works for 20 years and will add 397 parking spaces.
When COVID-19 hit, plans for the structure were put on hold.
“Due to the shelter in place and the lower volume of people coming downtown, we stopped charging for parking completely,” Horn said.
The lack of income created a problem for the new parking structure. The city needed to get a loan to complete it.
As part of the loan requirements, city officials needed to show an increase in revenue, which led to an increase in parking rates.
Hourly meter rates were raised from $2.50 an hour to $4 and the parking structure rates increased to $3 an hour in July 2023.
Many businesses and downtown visitors argued the increase was too much. City council members agreed to bring them back down earlier this week.
“Now that the Cultural Arts District Parking Structure is under construction and our financing is in place, we are able to reduce rates down and assist community members who want to work and shop,” Horn said.
The new rates will go into effect starting July 8.
Structure parking rates will decrease from $3 an hour to $2 with the daily maximum decreasing from $12 per day to $8.
On-street parking rates in the downtown core will still be considered premium parking but will go from $4 an hour to $2.75.
The outer downtown perimeter rates will decrease from $3 an hour to $2.25.
The monthly parking structure permit price will decrease from $85 a month to $45.
On-street parkers can also stay longer with parking time limits expanding from two hours to three hours in the downtown core.
Businesses will get a better deal on parking validation and the city will reduce the price for parking validation by half, meaning businesses will be able to purchase 100 validation tickets for $100 or $1 per hour with each ticket providing one hour of free parking.
There will be no more free parking.
Construction on the Cultural Arts District Parking Structure is expected to be completed in January of 2026, according to Horn.
