Though most details have yet to be worked out, a year-long pilot parking meter program approved by the City on a portion of Garnet Avenue will begin with the election on Oct. 11 of four at-large community members to Pacific Beach Community Parking District.
PBCPD will serve as the advisory board to the Parking Management District and will function as the place to discuss and implement parking programs. Discover Pacific Beach, the community’s business improvement district, will provide administrative support, financial management, logistics, office space, staff support, and other services as needed to meet City Council Policy 100-18.
That policy provides a mechanism whereby communities unable to meet existing parking demands may devise and implement parking management solutions to meet their specific needs and resolve undesirable parking impacts. This policy anticipates that such communities, at their initiative, and with the approval of the City Council, can be responsible for establishing and managing a Community Parking District.
“We are still waiting for it (PBCPD) all to go through permitting, which is out of our hands,” said Sunny Lee, executive director of Discover PB adding, “The types of meters (used) will be tandem meters with bike-rack sleeves.”
Lee said the parking district is still in the permitting stage, so it is unknown as yet when the pilot metered parking program will begin. “It will cost the same rates that are used throughout the City,” said Lee.
On-street meters in the City are normally enforced from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Mondays-Saturdays. Meter parking is $0.25 per 12-15 minutes. Parking is free outside these hours. Vehicles cannot park on street for more than 72 hours. Off-street parking rates vary rather considerably. One hour of parking can cost between $3-$10, while 24-hour parking can cost from $10 to $30.
Lee added it is premature to say much else about the parking district being created until after the October election of the community board overseeing the parking meter pilot.
PB area business license holders and residents are invited to run for election as PBCPD board members. Nominations are currently being solicited for four at-large seats on the 13-member board. At-large delegates will be from the four quarters of the community, divided by Garnet Street and Ingraham Street (above).
At-large delegates must be residents or business owners within the Pacific Beach Community Plan Boundary and the quartile of the neighborhood they wish to represent, and must submit to the committee a petition signed by 15 residents, businesses, or property owners inside their respective quadrant, accompanied by the sufficient contact information, from within the Pacific Beach Community Plan Boundary.
The nomination petition must be submitted to the PBCPD at the next Discover PB meeting to be held Oct. 11 at 5:30 p.m. either in person (at 1503 Garnet Ave.) or by emailing [email protected] and attending the Zoom meeting.
Approved unanimously by the City Council on July 20, 2021, the parking pilot has proposed putting 321 high-tech metered, two-hour-or-less-time-limited parking spaces on Garnet Avenue. The pilot plan would be limited to the densest part of Garnet’s commercial district.
The City Council action caps a years-long quest by some merchants, local residents, and community planners in PB who contend paid parking is a management solution and tool that will help solve traffic problems. Supporters claim paid parking will provide a continuing revenue stream for Pacific Beach that stays in the community and can be used to fund community-improvement projects.
However, concerns remain among some community residents who fear the paid-parking pilot could displace parking for residents, negatively impact their quality of life and be self-sustaining from here on in.
