Davis City Council Approves Expansion of Paid Downtown Parking

DAVIS, CA -- Drivers looking for free parking in downtown Davis will have fewer options in the not-too-distant future.

On December 20, the Davis City Council directed staff to expand paid parking into four city-owned downtown surface lots.

After consideration of several on-street and off-street paid parking alternatives, the City Council settled on adding the north F Street, north G Street, south G Street, and Boy Scout Cabin lots (see above map) to the City’s supply of paid parking and extending the parking time limit from two to four hours in these locations. The Council also supported expending city funds during the current fiscal year to:

• Develop a city-owned parking lot at the northwest corner of Richards & Olive Drive for downtown employee parking.
• Work with the property owners to expand employee parking into the Fourth & G garage.
• Pursue a downtown parking guidance system.
• Explore options to offset parking costs with a validation system for downtown purchases

“Expanding paid parking and pursuing a parking guidance system are important tools for efficiently managing our limited downtown parking supply,” Mayor Robb Davis said.

Expanding paid parking from the existing E Street Plaza lot to other highly impacted areas downtown is one of 19 recommendations in the city's Downtown Parking Management Plan, which was completed in spring of 2014. The recommendations emerged from the Downtown Parking Task Force, which met monthly over the course of a year to help City decision-makers improve parking conditions downtown. In July 2016, City Council directed staff to return with options for expanding paid parking.

A timeframe for implementation hasn't been set however, and is being developed by staff. The city says that downtown stakeholders will be updated as the project progresses, and that community outreach will be conducted in advance of kiosk installation.

Map courtesy City of Davis