KCBX s Angel Russell reports.
The City of San Luis Obispo has increased the fee to park downtown, and will be decreasing the hours of free street parking in the next couple of weeks. While the city said the increase will help fund a parking garage project, some downtown business owners and employees are opposing the changes.
Hourly rates to park in downtown San Luis Obispo went up July 1 by 25 cents per hour. The parking garages are now $1.50 an hour, and on-street parking now ranges from $1.25 to $2.00 per hour depending on the zone.
SLO Parking Manager, Gaven Hussey, said these rates were actually approved to start back in July of 2020, but got delayed due to the pandemic.