DAVIS, Calif. — The Davis City Council is scheduled to consider an ordinance next week that would expand paid parking to three additional downtown parking lots and increase parking rates to $3 per hour as part of the city’s long-delayed implementation of its Downtown Parking Management Plan.
According to a staff report prepared by Public Works Engineering and Transportation Director Ryan Chapman, the proposal would amend sections of the Davis Municipal Code governing metered parking and authorize paid parking in the North F Street Lot, South G Street Lot and Amtrak Train Depot Lot. The E Street Plaza Lot is already designated as a paid parking facility.
The proposed changes stem from the Downtown Parking Management Plan adopted by the City Council in 2014 following recommendations developed by the Council-appointed Downtown Parking Task Force. Staff noted that while many components of the plan have already been implemented, the conversion of three additional downtown parking lots to metered parking remains one of the plan’s outstanding items.
Under the proposal, paid parking would be enforced from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday in the North F Street Lot and South G Street Lot. The Amtrak Train Depot Lot would be metered from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Staff reported that if the ordinance is approved, the Police Department would purchase additional parking kiosks and signage for the affected lots, with implementation anticipated in early fall. A mobile parking application would also be offered as an alternative payment method.
City officials emphasized that most downtown parking would remain unchanged. According to the report, all on-street parking and approximately half of downtown surface parking lots would continue to be free. The F Street parking garage would also retain its current policy allowing the first three hours of parking at no charge.
The report states that downtown Davis currently contains approximately 2,100 public parking spaces, including on-street spaces, surface lots and parking garages. The proposed expansion of paid parking would affect roughly 330 spaces, representing about 16 percent of the city’s total downtown parking inventory.
The ordinance would also establish a parking rate of 75 cents per 15-minute increment, equivalent to $3 per hour. Staff estimated that if all 330 paid spaces were occupied at full capacity, parking fees could generate as much as $50,000 per week.
According to the report, a portion of the revenue would be used to offset costs associated with operating and maintaining the parking system, including enforcement, revenue collection and maintenance. Staff further recommended that any remaining revenue be directed toward downtown-related uses as determined by the City Council.
The report also discusses the city’s previous direction regarding parking pricing. Staff wrote, “Council’s previous direction relating to parking rates was that the rates should be demand responsive so that as parking demand increases, the parking rate also increases.”
However, staff indicated that implementing a demand-responsive pricing system would require additional studies and more expensive technology investments.
The report states, “The cost to implement a demand-responsive system is significantly higher than the cost to implement the revised fee, since an additional study would be needed to determine what the rate structure should be and costly technologies would need to be installed at the parking lots.”
As a result, staff recommended adopting the revised parking fee structure now while pursuing dynamic pricing through a future capital improvement project when funding becomes available.
The proposed ordinance would formally designate four city-owned parking facilities as parking meter zones: the E Street Plaza Parking Lot at 221 F St., the North F Street Parking Lot at 310 E St., the South G Street Parking Lot between Second and Third streets, and the Amtrak Train Depot Parking Lot at 840 H St.
The ordinance specifies that all spaces within designated parking meter zones, except those reserved for disabled users, motorcycles and electric vehicles, would be subject to the city’s paid parking regulations.
The measure is scheduled for introduction at Tuesday’s City Council meeting. If ultimately adopted, the ordinance would take effect 60 days after passage.
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Bad ideas never die they just get more expensive. Three dollars an hour! Recall the City Council!