San Diego faces new parking ordinance

Courtesy of Dustacio/Flickr

The San Diego city council OK’d an ordinance Tuesday making it illegal for vehicle owners to park for-sale cars on designated streets. The council approved the motion, and tacked a $50 fine on violators. If mayor Jerry Sanders passes the ordinance, it will go into effect 45 days after he signs off.

Lt. Dan Christman, who heads parking enforcement for the traffic division, said for-sale vehicles parked on city streets have become a significant concern in communities and business districts.

“It often creates a traffic hazard and congestion issue because people actually get out of their cars and go over to look at the car for sale, which creates an unofficial car dealership in the middle of the street,” Christman said. “That’s just a hazard.”

Christman said two other problems that the new ordinance aims to eliminate are the for-sale vehicles occupying needed parking spaces for extended periods of time, and people illegally brokering their cars on city streets.

The San Diego Police Department has raked in more than $16 million in revenue for the city from parking violations in fiscal year 2008.

Between 2007 and 2008, revenue collected from fines, forfeitures and penalties - including parking violations - by the police department jumped from $10 million to $29.3 million, the result of a decision to shuffle the parking management operation under the police budget.

At least $16 million of the $19.3 million increase came from parking fines. The remaining $3 million came from fines issued through new ordinances, including the ban on alcohol at parks and beaches.

“We categorize the funds so that we know where the dollars were generated,” said Monica Munoz, a spokesperson for the police department. “For example, parking cites versus misdemeanor cites; but ultimately all the funds go to the city’s general fund. That is from all departments, not just our department.”

Parking services was previously maintained under the general services department of the city budget prior to 2007, but has moved back and forth throughout the years.

“There were no fiscal impacts or changes to the program,” said Rachel Laing, a spokesperson for the mayor. “The staffing levels and costs remained exactly the same. The service to the public remained exactly the same. All changes were on the back end.”

SDPD and other city departments issued 411,200 parking tickets in 2008, 454,265 in 2007 and 490,903 in 2006.

Ron Villa, SDPD’s fiscal operations manager, said revenue from parking tickets has decreased slightly.

Villa said less parking tickets are being issued for 2009 because less parking controllers are employed at the moment. The staff is temporarily down because of several recent retirements in the department.

In addition, the senior parking enforcement supervisor is on unpaid leave and only 50 parking enforcement officers are employed, but the budget allows for 57.5 officers, Muñoz said.

Villa said there is a high-turnover rate for the parking controller job position.

“Anytime you are missing someone in a supervising position, other people have to pick up the slack and you have to split up the workload,” said Christman.

The offices of councilmembers Kevin Faulconer and Donna Frye have not yet responded for requests for comment.

Wendy Fry is an SDNN intern. She can be contacted at wendy.fry@sdnn.com

Tags: SDNN

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