Council Gets an Earful on Downtown Parking as City Leaders Explore Changes
Plus, how Martinez compares with neighbor recently ranked among best cities to retire; armed robberies hit local 7-11; making the climate emergency local
The fraught issue of downtown parking generated spirited discussion at a City Council study session last week as city leaders explore opportunities to upgrade the technologies and options available to motorists, including the possibility of free parking at least for limited periods of time.
More than a dozen members of the public — many of them downtown business owners — gave public comment at Wednesday’s meeting, mostly expressing frustration with the impact the downtown parking situation has had on their operations.
A 2022 parking study that the city commissioned came up with three key recommendations to enhance the downtown’s parking system:
Adjust parking rates and limits along the most popular streets in downtown;
Deploy innovative technologies as the city replaces its parking meters;
Improve parking wayfinding to guide drivers to "right-fit" parking options (the city is working with GNU Group to develop a wayfinding sign program for the downtown)
The good news is that the city now has some resources at its disposal to implement changes thanks to a Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) grant of $1,269,000 and matching city funds of $164,541.
Regardless of the infrastructure changes, the question of whether to raise hourly parking meter rates — or even to maintain them — will be front and center. Martinez’s parking rates have not risen since 2013 and now lag behind several neighboring jurisdictions; the revenue generated from current parking rates also doesn’t cover the city’s maintenance costs, according to a staff report on the topic.
For business owners who attended the meeting, their overarching message for the council was that those rates — and the constant need to replenish meters — are affecting their bottom line.
One owner of an antique store noted that shoppers routinely have to interrupt their experience in his store to feed the meter.
And the impact isn’t just felt by shoppers; it’s a burden for owners and their employees as well. One business owner shared: “I can’t run out of the shop to pay parking if I have a customer there. I have to gamble with my parking quite often.”
Mayor Brianne Zorn suggested that the city explore offering a parking pass program to business owners to use one of the downtown lots to address the challenges they face with having to feed meters throughout the day.
She said increasing parking rates for the public as a whole could help to free up parking spaces or others visiting downtown.
“We don’t want people to just come, park and stay all day,” she said. “We have to have some mechanism to move them along.”
Another business owner cautioned against transitioning too aggressively to app-based technologies for parking, noting that many seniors aren’t comfortable or equipped to use such technology and prefer traditional payment methods.
An observation that came up repeatedly in public comments was that several other jurisdictions, including Concord and Benicia, offer free parking in at least some areas of their downtowns, whether short or long term.
Zorn expressed interest in the idea of offering one- or two-hour free parking spaces, as is common in some jurisdictions, and asked city staff to compile data on the financial implications of such an approach for future discussion.
The issue of citation amounts also was a source of frustration. “It is a drag to come into town and be 15 minutes late and get this extraordinary ticket,” one resident said.
Councilman Satinder Malhi also zeroed in on the issue of citations, noting that the standard $50 citation amount quickly adds up for small business owners and employees, many of whom are facing broader economic challenges.
“It’s not all peaches and cream downtown,” he said, requesting future discussion at a council meeting on reducing the citation amount.
Council members also asked for engagement with the county on the impact that its downtown employees have on the parking supply and ways that could be mitigated — along with the Superior Court system.
Armed robberies
Police Chief Andrew White noted at Wednesday’s City Council meeting that the 7-11 at 4141 Alhambra Ave. was hit with two armed robberies within the span of a few days in late September; such crimes are rare in Martinez.
The robberies occurred shortly before or after midnight on Sept. 24 and Sept. 28. A robbery at the same location also was reported June 30, according to the city’s crime map data posted online.
White said a suspect has been arrested in connection with the Sept. 24 robbery and that Martinez police are collaborating with other agencies “that were also impacted by this series.”
“Our team is on and it and working it,” White said.
A total of 11 robberies have been reported in Martinez so far this year (as of Oct. 6). Multiple robberies also were reported on Jan. 17 and Feb. 12 in the 500 block of Morello Ave., where another 7-11 is located.
Martinez vs. Benicia by the numbers
The Los Angeles Times recently ranked the top places in California to retire, and although Martinez didn’t make the list, our neighbor across the Carquinez Strait, Benicia, did, landing at No. 3 (behind Eureka and Arcata).
Given the proximity of our two cities, I thought it would be interesting to see how the two stack up based on various demographic factors, which was easy enough to do through the U.S. Census Bureau’s website. What stood out is how much in common the two cities have (though Martinez is larger by about 10,00 residents). Here’s a rundown:
The percentage of residents identifying as white alone is 66% in Martinez, 66.5% in Benicia
The percentage of residents identifying as Hispanic or Latino is 19.4% in Martinez, 15% in Benicia
The percentage of residents identifying as Asian is 10.5% in Martinez, 11.9% in Benicia
The percentage of residents identifying as Black or African-American is 3% in Martinez, 3.6% in Benicia
The percentage of youth residents (under the age of 18) is 20.8% in Martinez, 20.3% in Benicia.
The percentage of residents who are seniors (age 65 or older) is 17.6% in Martinez, 21.6% in Benicia.
The owner-occupied housing rate from 2018 to 2022 was 71% in Martinez, 70% in Benicia
The median value of owner-occupied housing units from 2018 to 2022 was $772,600 in Martinez, $736,500 in Benicia.
The median selected monthly owner costs with a mortgage from 2018 to 2022 was $2,919 in Martinez, $2,943 in Benicia
The median monthly gross rent from 2018 to 2022 was $2,188 in Martinez, $2,220 in Benicia.
The median selected monthly owner costs without a mortgage from 2018 to 2022 was $784 in Martinez, $747 in Benicia.
So why did Benicia make the L.A. Times list? Here’s what the paper said: “Moderate climate, access to wilderness and the San Joaquin river, and relatively close to Bay Area population centers, wine country and Sacramento.”
Of course, all those things would seem to apply just as equally to Martinez. Oh well, maybe next year Martinez will get its due.
Making the national local…
Between the devastation from Hurricane Helene and the epic October heat wave that has hit California, including Martinez, the topic of the climate emergency and extreme weather is back in the news.
As many will remember, Martinez, along with much of of the rest of California, was battered with torrential rainstorms over the winter of 2022-23, causing the city to declare a local emergency. Lately, the extreme weather has been in the form of heat, despite the fact that summer is over. According to the Weather Channel, Martinez topped 100 degrees in the first three days of October, and after dipping to 94 degrees on Friday, was on track to hit the century mark again Saturday and Sunday.
Sunday’s high is expected to hit 101 degrees, which should easily break the record set for this date of 96 degrees in 1987; the historical average high for this date is 80 degrees. Last year, by comparison, Martinez never hit 100 degrees in the month of October (the high was 95).
The high temperature in Martinez should finally drop below 90 degrees on Tuesday, and stay there through the end of the week. According to weatherspark.com:
On Oct. 6, the temperature in Martinez typically ranges from 55°F to 77°F and is rarely below 50°F or above 88°F.
According to climate.gov, 2023 was the warmest year on earth since global records began in 1850 by a wide margin, and the 10 warmest years in the historical record have all occurred in the past decade (2014-2023).
Thank you for all the great useful info. While Benicia & Martinez have similar downtowns, Benicia also has an enticing functional marina with generally well maintained higher density housing nearby & a large regional park. This is a very inviting concept in my mind. I keep hoping we can move towards a vision like this as a city. For every step forward we sadly seem to take 2 steps backward.
You left out no bridge toll vs. Benicia.