(La Jolla is not the only San Diego beach city wrestling with the issue of paid parking. Neighboring Pacific Beach is also considering meters in the commercial district and beach areas, plus permits for employees and some residents.)
“Paying for parking is ridiculous.”
“Why should we pay to park when we pay income tax, gasoline tax, car registration fees and sales tax?”
This money should be ample to fix our neighborhoods. The curbs, streets, streetlights, potholes, sidewalks and dying trees should be fixed by the City of San Diego in Pacific Beach because “¦ we pay taxes.
If only these realities would solve our problems. The City of San Diego and State of California are facing massive budget deficits; there are not funds available to fix our infrastructure, let alone solve our parking problems. And if you think parking at the beach is free right now, think again. We’re all paying to park at the beach.
“So who pays for free parking?”
The residents and visitors of PB pay. We sit in traffic while our cars spew exhaust. We circle the neighborhood looking for that one “free” spot, avoiding the dozens of reasonably priced private paid parking lots (wasting fuel and time). We pay parking enforcement officers to chalk endless tires on vehicles in two-hour parking spots (overextending a limited enforcement budget). We shuffle between two-hour parking spots to avoid a citation. Our neighborhood is crumbling and we’re polluting our beach all because we think parking should be free.
Anyone who believes in saving the environment, preserving natural resources, conserving energy, preventing emissions and promoting the enhancement of our community should be advocating a parking plan that encourages parking space turnover.
Walker Consultants developed a parking management plan detailing different strategies that have been successful in other communities. The goal of the Pacific Beach Community Parking District (PBCPD) is to develop our own parking plan. The PBCPD is trying to promote carpooling, public transportation, bicycling, walking, beach shuttles and leaving cars in their driveways whenever possible.
We all pay taxes, but it is our responsibility as PB residents and business owners to take the initiative to revitalize our community and solve our own problems. The PBCPD (comprised of residents and members of PB Planning Committee, Pacific Beach Town Council and Discover PB) is in the process of developing a plan that is supported by residents and participating community groups to help the community.
Pacific Beach needs a limited block pilot program that will monitor on-street paid parking in the highest traffic areas in the commercial district (not coastal) with extended enforcement hours as suited by parking demand. This will effectively create more parking inventory as the private lots will be better utilized. The PBCPD would manage 45 to 75 percent (depending on the City Council resolution) of paid parking revenues to repair our curbs, streets, streetlights, potholes, sidewalks and dying trees for our community.
Downtown and Little Italy are recent examples of how a parking plan can make a positive community impact. Pacific Beach is at 125 percent of capacity for parking, and a pilot program will help our community combat “cruising for parking” and create revenues for our neighborhood revitalization (PB gets $0 a year now).
I am a volunteer who has donated hundreds of hours and personal funds towards community projects and a resident who has lived/worked in Pacific Beach for almost 20 years. These opinions are my own “¦ but I can guarantee that the only special interest for parking revenues are supporting efforts to promote, clean and preserve a better Pacific Beach.
” Mike McNeill is the chair of Pacific Beach Community Parking District and member of Discover Pacific Beach.