Parking in downtown Ventura to remain free through January
A plan to expand paid parking in downtown Ventura won’t go forward this year.
The Ventura City Council voted 6-0 Tuesday to hold off on implementing the change until at least January. In the meantime, the city will conduct a study of rates and other details that should be complete in November. Councilmember Jim Duran was absent.
The original plan, approved on Nov. 13 in a 6-1 vote, would have turned hundreds of free spots — nearly 900 in all — into paid stalls starting May 1. The change would affect the parking structure on Santa Clara Street and many surface lots that ring the heart of downtown along both sides of Main Street.
The additional revenue will help pay for a new parking garage planned for downtown.
In late January, council members changed their minds about the May start date and wanted more data, saying they were swayed after hearing more from the public. Councilmember Liz Campos said she received more than 50 emails about the issue.
On Tuesday, Councilmember Jeannette Sanchez-Palacios said she was “OK” pushing back the May start date to Jan. 10 but wanted to decide on the next steps.
“We’re sort of kicking the can down the road and I don't want to do that,” Sanchez-Palacios said. “It’s an issue that’s been talked about for many years already and we're trying to come up with a solution to it. The more we wait and see, the longer it’s going to be and the more expensive it's going to get.”
Councilmember Mike Johnson said he believes the city will likely have to expand paid parking but he wants more data to determine the extent.
While there were nearly 25 people who spoke out against the parking plan in January, only five spoke Tuesday. All wanted the city to collect more data and most were not in favor.
Currently, Ventura has about 2,000 free parking spaces in the downtown area, city officials said.
If the changes are approved, 887 free spots, including 444 in the Santa Clara Street parking structure, will be switched to paid. The parking structure already includes one floor with paid stalls.
Drivers would pay $1.25 per hour at seven off-street surface lots and $1 an hour in the parking structure, according to the plan approved in November.
Jeff Hereford, the city's principal transportation engineer, said a parking ticket would cost $35.
Revenue from the expanded parking fees, estimated to bring in about $1.45 million annually, would bridge a funding gap for construction of the new garage.
The city is working on the conceptual design of a $31.3 million, 435-space lot at the northeast corner of Santa Clara and Palm streets, about two blocks west of the existing parking garage. On March 26, there will be an update, Hereford said.
In other news, City Manager Bill Ayub, who’s been on the job for nearly seven months, received a salary bump. Council members voted to give him a 6% merit increase from approximately $280,000 to about $296,800.
At the meeting, Ayub announced the hiring of Assistant City Manager Carlene Saxton. She begins on April 15 with a base salary of $245,000. Saxton previously served as Moorpark's community development director. Before Moorpark, she was Palmdale's economic and community development director.
Earlier in February, Rachel Dimond was named community development director. She'll earn $246,973. In May 2023, she joined the city as an interim assistant community development director. Previously, Dimond was an assistant city manager in Compton and held senior planning roles in West Hollywood.
Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ventura downtown parking to remain free through January
