Council discusses downtown employee parking lots, 30-minute free spots
More information to be gathered before a decision is made
– The Paso Robles City Council held its regular meeting last evening. The main discussion item during the meeting focused on potential modifications to the downtown employee monthly permit parking and short-term spaces. The presentation was given by Chief of Police Damian Nord. The council was asked to provide staff with directions regarding the monthly permit parking lots and the 30-minute paid parking spaces.
The discussion, led by Chief Nord, followed the council’s earlier decision to end the downtown on-street paid parking program in May 2024.
The downtown employee permit program, approved on Oct. 16, 2018, offers business owners and employees parking at $5 per month in four lots totaling 98 spaces. These lots were intended to keep on-street spaces available for customers. Currently, permits are valid from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. In Fiscal Year 2023, the city issued 4,286 permits, which decreased to 3,845 in Fiscal Year 2024, according to the item’s staff report.
The city is also working on improvements to two permit parking lots near Marv’s Pizza and at 12th Street and Railroad Street. Planned upgrades include better lighting, redesigned layouts, and EV charging stations.
The council considered whether to lift the permit-only restrictions on these lots, which could lead to the spaces becoming first-come, first-served public parking.
The 30-minute parking spots, implemented in March 2022, provide short-term free parking and are marked with green curbs. There are currently 35 of these spots.
Questions were raised as to how the 30-minute time limit is enforced. The time limit is enforced by semi-regular patrolling. The council all felt the 30-minute spots should remain and that better enforcement should be implemented if possible.
The council and the public discussed the paid program for the employee lots at length. Questions were raised as to why employees should be charged if the public isn’t being charged for general parking downtown, and about how the lots were enforced.
The council asked staff to return the item after additional information could be gathered, such as the opinions of downtown employees. The council may choose to make the program free or get rid of it altogether. The topic will be brought back for another meeting in a few months.
The meeting began with presentations, which included an airport update by Airport Manager Mark Scandalis, an annual presentation from Central Coast Community Energy delivered by Senior Customer Accounts Manager Judith Young, and a recognition of K-9 Renzo, presented by Mayor John Hamon.
Click here to view the full meeting agenda.
Watch the meeting in its entirety below:
