The city of San Diego is considering a fee hike for restaurant and hotel owners who use valet parking spaces and outdoor dining areas on city streets.
This proposal is part of Mayor Todd Gloria’s latest effort to close the gap on San Diego’s $250 million budget shortfall. The proposed valet pricing structure would increase the annual permit fee, include an initial charge for the first two valet spots based on lost meter revenue and additional charges for extra spaces.
Michael Trimble, director of the Gaslamp Quarter Association, says the organization is against the proposed parking reform package.
“For example, a $650 fee that a hotel would pay is going to be going up 14,000%,” Trimble said. “So if you want a large space, you’re going to pay close to $15,000 in additional space. So if you have six spaces, and you do the math, it really adds up.”
In a statement to NBC 7, a spokesperson for the city said, in part, “Valet operations generate significant revenues to the operators. By charging the loss of revenue fee, San Diego aims to ensure that Valet Operations compensate the city for the actual value of the parking spaces they occupy, promoting fairness, transparency, and more efficient use of public assets.”
According to the proposal, restaurants that currently pay an annual fee ranging between $5,000-$10,000 would pay a proposed $30,000 fee annually for on-street, outdoor dining areas.
The Gaslamp Quarter Association represents more 400 businesses, including restaurants and hotels. Trimble said the proposal is not good for business.
“We have quite a few hotels in the Gaslamp Quarter,” he said. “They’re worried about those fees. They’re worried about how they’re going to recover those fees.”
Trimble said the proposed fees are excessive and could hurt many businesses in the Gaslamp Quarter because they’re already located in a Special Event Meter Zone, adding that the fees are also a burden on employees who work and park downtown and on customers who end up paying the price.
“What I’m asking, along with my other partners downtown, and the other associations, the California Restaurant Association, to really rollback all these initiatives and really rethink how it’s going to work out because the last thing they want to do is have business impacted downtown,” Trimble said.
He said the Gaslamp Quarter saw about a 40% decrease in cars parking in their district since the special event $10 per hour took effect on Sept. 1.
He worries these added fees will only hurt businesses struggling to leave a margin for profit.
“I’m hoping between now and springtime, we can come up with a new plan that makes it more appealing for visitors, for businesses being open as a business, making sure they retain their staff,” Trimble said. “I think the city really needs to look at the big picture.”
The item is expected to be brought before the city council on Nov. 3 or 4.
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