Free parking is back for good in Paso Robles after council repeals ordinance

Parking in downtown Paso Robles will be free — permanently this time — after the Paso Robles City Council voted 5-0 to repeal the paid parking ordinance at its Tuesday meeting.

Established in 2019, Paso Robles’ paid parking has been a source of tension in the community that heightened in the early months of 2024 as the city looked to raise parking rates.

Paid parking was paused effective Feb. 6 by the City Council after Templeton Resident Gary Lehrer sent the city a cease-and-desist letter.

An ordinance approved in a 3-2 vote at the March 5 City Council meeting was set to go into effect on April 5 and would have allowed the city to charge $1 an hour — and potentially up to $5 an hour — for parking in some areas of downtown Paso Robles.

As the dispute surrounding parking changes intensified, a citizens group submitted a petition that garnered around 2,400 signatures in 19 days asking the City Council to put the issue on the November ballot, according to the staff report.

Submitted at the April 2 City Council meeting, the petition was later rejected by the city clerk based on defects in the petition that were largely detail-oriented, such as failing to include the proper ordinance number and title, according to the staff report.

Being rejected by the city clerk also meant the petition has missed the deadline for the November ballot, leading several members of the public to ask the council to make a motion to add parking to the ballot.

While many residents at the meeting were glad to see the parking ordinance go, others used public comment to remind the council that they would still seek to put the question of paid parking to the public through a ballot.

“This council has the absolute authority on its own to put this issue on the ballot in spite of the so-called illegal referendum, but you won’t because you’re terrified of the voters and you know you what the results would be,” resident Richard Pettit said during public comment. “Fortunately, we have two council members — Mr. Bausch and Mr. Strong — who seem to favor a voice for the people and we sincerely appreciate that.”

Business owners and residents alike praised the council’s decision to repeal the ordinance, with several owners already feeling a bump in traffic during the past months when paid parking was suspended.

Spare Time Books owner Carla Cary said her shop is doing much better in recent months, registering sales 500-800% better than normal on some days.

“I just wanted to say that we have experienced tremendous increase in business — we had a record day time and time again in just the last couple of months,” Cary said.

Mayor John Hamon said he understood the reasons paid parking was met with disapproval by the public, but said without it the city could face the same overcrowding issues it originally introduced the parking fees to address five years ago.

Still, he voted to repeal the ordinance, warning that more comprehensive parking solutions such as a parking garage would be difficult to implement without income from a parking program.

“If that’s what you want, that’s fine with me,” Hamon joked. “Just don’t ask for any more parking, ever.”

The repeal will be heard again at the May 21 City Council meeting, and will become effective 30 days afterwards.