Council Votes to Reduce Parking Permit Fees for Downtown Merchants and Employees

Monthly permit cost will drop from $93 to $30; penalty for parking meter violations to remain unchanged; CCTA "shared mobility" plan would reduce parking at Amtrak station

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By Tom Lochner

The City Council on April 2 unanimously passed a resolution reducing parking permit fees in the downtown area for merchants and their employees, with a view to "balancing parking permit revenue with merchant satisfaction while also ensuring fiscal responsibility, maintaining parking availability, and managing the parking program effectively." The permits will go from the current $93 a month down to $30 a month.

A trial period will last through December and will be followed by a report to the council from city staff on the impacts of the fee reduction and recommended next steps.

The resolution applies to some 630 10-hour meter spaces, not the two-hour meters in the heart of downtown. (The 630 number has been reduced slightly, due to the statewide Daylighting Law, effective Jan. 1, 2025, that prohibits parking within 20 feet of crosswalks and 15 feet of crosswalks with curb extensions).

Residential parking permits for downtown-area residents are free.

There were approximately 40 annualized merchant and employee parking permits at last count, along with 182 residential parking permits in the downtown area, according to a presentation by Martinez police Chief Andrew White. The total parking permits come out to just over 35% of the 10-hour meter spaces.

"In short, there's definitely room to offer more permits … without taking away all the available 10-hour parking," White said.

One idea behind the move is to incentivize merchants and their employees to get the permits and park further away from downtown businesses, leaving more nearby spaces for shoppers

Parking permits for merchants and employees currently cost $1,116 a year, or $93 a month, available in annual, semi-annual or quarterly increments. Based on the standard weekday use, that represents an annual savings of $184, or 14%, from what it would cost to pay the 50-cent hourly meter fee for the entire time.

Merchants have complained that under current conditions, they and their employees sometimes have to bolt out of stores and restaurants to feed expiring meters. Some have told of chefs or waiters getting ticketed because they couldn't venture outside to an expiring meter while putting the final touches on a customer's pizza or sandwich.

There is no prorated pricing, and the program operates on a fiscal year basis (July 1 to June 30.)

At White's suggestion, the council capped the number of non-residential permits at 150 and set the price at $360 a year ($30 per month). The council also limited their sale to businesses with a city business license and their employees. Also, whereas previously some permits were sold to county employees, only the library employees among them will henceforth be eligible for the discounted permits; other county employees will still be able to buy the current $1,116-a-year permits.

Replacement permits will cost $10. The estimated revenue loss to the city compared with the current scenario, if it sells 150 permits at the equivalent of $30 a month, would be $48,500 a year, factoring in the new permit price, changes in parking permit revenue, and the potential loss of meter revenue from new permit holders who previously paid at the meter, White estimated.

The resolution also delegates to the city manager or his designee the authority to establish and implement administrative rules and processes for the eligibility, issuance, renewal, display and enforcement, including revocation, of parking permits under the trial program, with all adopted rules published on the city’s website; and to set limits on the number of permits issued to ensure adequate parking availability and equity among program participants.

During the discussion, White noted that while historically, residences in the downtown meter zone area got one free parking permit and paid for any additional ones, there now are instances of as many as four or five free permits issued for one residence.

Later in the meeting, the council deliberated whether to revisit and possibly reduce the parking violation penalties at expired meters, over reported concerns that the current fine of $50 is excessive. In the end, the council opted to keep the fine at $50.