The Abridged version:
- The city of Davis will impose new fees on three downtown parking lots.
- The North F Street, South G Street and Amtrak Train Depot lots will all transition from free to $1 per hour as soon as 60 days from now.
- City officials will study occupancy in the lots and return with an updated fee recommendation in nine months.
A free parking spot in downtown Davis will soon be harder to find.
The Davis City Council on Tuesday moved ahead with a plan to impose new fees on three downtown parking lots. The North F Street, South G Street and Amtrak Train Depot lots will require payment in as soon as 60 days.
The move, which comes as Davis is contending with an ongoing structural budget deficit, will meter the lots starting at $1 per hour, with potential increases in the future.
The change will affect 330 spaces, roughly 16% of the available parking downtown.
Setting a price
City staff in June proposed a $3 increase, but council members settled on starting at $1 while they study what to charge long term.
“It’s important to kind of ease into something like this,” Councilmember Linda Deos said during the June meeting.
At $1 per hour, the revenue gained from parking lots would take a chunk out of the existing expense of parking enforcement, which comes out of the city’s deficit-burdened general fund.
“It does not cost us any more money than it’s already costing us,” Councilmember Josh Chapman said in June.
If officials decide to raise the rates to $3 per hour, the city could make up to $50,000 per week.
Employee parking
The decision is being met with mixed reactions from people in the downtown business community.
At G Street WunderBar, which is right next to the South G Street lot, bartender Emily Bowyer said she parks in the lot during every shift.
The lot has a two-hour limit, but it’s convenient and keeps her from having to find parking on the street for the time she is allowed to be there.
“Street parking is harder to find,” she said. “A lot of times the lots are where the employees park.”
When she does have to move her car from the lot, she is sometimes only able to find street parking 10 or 15 minutes away. That, plus the walk back to the bar, takes time during her shift.
“You’re still on the clock,” she said.
What’s more, Bowyer cannot always afford to park in paid lots, even at $1 per hour. She said she doesn’t always have $6 in her bank account to cover daily parking fees and $30 per week would represent a burden.
“I work paycheck to paycheck,” she said. “I understand the city needs to make money, but they are also messing with the people who bring in that income.”
Bowyer said the city should consider a downtown lot for employees of local businesses.
“They need to have a specific lot designated in the middle of town for Davis employees,” she said.
More business
Across the street from G Street WunderBar, Taylor Ramos, owner of Davis Beer Shoppe, agreed with the city’s decision.
“It will definitely positively affect business,” he said.
Ramos said that paid parking will lead to higher turnover in parking spots and more available parking for customers.
“When people pay metered parking, they pay for exactly how much they need,” he said.
More turnover means more business coming through the door.
“There are no downsides for business owners for having metered parking,” Ramos said. “When parking lots are full, it’s bad for business.”
That is consistent with the argument that the Davis Downtown Business Association has been making in recent weeks.
Kevin Wan, the downtown association president, said during the City Council meeting in June that his organization supports a phased approach to implementing new fees.
“We see this, like staff, as mainly a parking management tool, not necessarily a revenue tool,” he said. “This is a reasonable first step towards improving availability.”
Daniel Hennessy joins Abridged from the California Local News Fellowship. He’s a reporter covering Yolo County.