San Diego begins push for paid parking in Balboa Park, Mission Bay Park

Driving the news: On Thursday evening, city officials briefed the Balboa Park Committee on their intention to implement paid parking in San Diego's cultural heart.

• Officials will holding meetings with leaders of Balboa Park institutions next week and will then engage community groups from neighborhoods surrounding the park to begin shaping a final proposal, Rachel Laing, a mayoral spokesperson, told Axios.

State of play: The presentation shared data on parking usage from a citywide parking demand study completed in January that is guiding the city's revenue-motivated revamp of policy. It did not include any details on pricing.

• "All we have right now is a demand study, and the intent to implement paid parking in the park," Laing said. "The shape of that is not yet determined, and the public will be listened to and engaged."

What's next: After its engagement tour, city staff will put together a proposal in hopes of a City Council vote later this year.

• "We're looking at several months, not several years," Laing said.

Between the lines: Discussions on paid parking in Balboa Park are further along than those in Mission Bay Park, but Laing said the city will soon begin a similar process there.

Friction point: More than a decade ago, the push to revamp Balboa Park's central mesa exploded in political controversy in part thanks to its inclusion of paid parking.

• The plan has been revived and killed again multiple times since the City Council first approved it in 2012.
• San Diego's pursuit of paid beach parking came up short in 2005 and 2011, before a 2023 pilot program allowed parking meters in a portion of Pacific Beach.

Charging for parking in Mission Bay Park, specifically, could require approval of the California Coastal Commission, the statewide agency tasked with regulating the coastal region.

• "Mission Bay Park offers a myriad of recreational opportunities to the public at no cost including tourist information, (and) parking," reads the Mission Bay Park Master Plan, the city's guiding regulatory document for the area adopted in 1994.

The big picture: In Mission Bay and Balboa parks' off-street lots, the city is looking at charging hourly rates or implementing a location-based system that charges more in desirable areas, or a hybrid of the two.

• "Downtown, you really want people to park for a couple hours, then open up the spot for someone else," Laing said. "In the park, you might want people to linger, and decide to stay for something they weren't planning, so hourly rates might not be ideal."

By the numbers: The demand study monitored both parks' parking utilization in mid-July 2024.

• On weekends, parking lots in Balboa Park averaged 69% occupancy — but in core areas, it reached 85%. During peak periods, core lots were 98% occupied.
• Mission Bay parking lots were 73% occupied overall, while lots serving Mission Beach averaged 84% occupancy (and peaked at 100%).

The intrigue: The city hopes charging for the most desirable spaces will even out demand by pushing people to spots near Inspiration Point, the Veterans Museum and Starlight Bowl.

• Those lots are served by a free shuttle but are still routinely empty while drivers compete for spots in the heart of the park.
• "There is a high likelihood there will be free spaces in the park, but not in the most convenient places," Laing said.

Zoom in: She said the city is trying to determine how to handle employee and volunteer parking, and subsidizing people who can't afford the rates.

• Annual passes from the zoo, or the Balboa Park-wide Compass Pass, could also include parking, Laing added.
• "This is a big nut to crack," she said.

Fun fact: Donald Shoup, the beloved scholar on the hidden costs of free parking, who died in February, once opined on the parking situation in Balboa Park.

• "If you started charging for it, you might find miraculously that there's suddenly more parking," he told Voice of San Diego, amid the city's last failed attempt.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include more information about Mission Bay's parking proposal.