SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO : Metered Parking at Depot Mulled
The City Council tonight will consider installing meters and charging 25 cents an hour for 131 parking spaces used by train commuters near the downtown depot.
The proposal is viewed as a way to reduce the number of commuters from San Clemente who catch northbound trains from here because the parking is free and the train fares cheaper. Merchants have complained that rail commuters park in lots provided for shoppers.
Recent city surveys of parked vehicles downtown have shown that as many as 25% were registered to San Clemente residents.
If the city approves the program, an outside company would handle collections and help with enforcement, Councilman Gil Jones said, because the city can’t afford to do that work.
An earlier proposal called for charging $1 a day on from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays for the 131 spaces the city leases in the parking structure of the Franciscan Plaza, near the depot. The latest proposal calls for 25 cents an hour with a $2-a-day maximum for rail commuters. Two electronic meters would be installed to monitor those spaces.
San Juan Capistrano has 225 spaces for all-day parking downtown, city officials said, while 300 to 330 people catch trains daily from the city.
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