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There will now be paid parking at San Marcos City Park for nonresidents from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. It will be free for residents, but they must register for the program. The San Marcos City Council voted to approve, five to two, to authorize the issuance of tickets by mail for nonpayment of parking fees within the city of San Marcos parks paid parking lots using enforcement technology, which was related to previous direction by council to implement a three year paid parking pilot program in the City Park Parking Lot. According to city documents, the City Park Paid Parking pilot program has been supported by both the Parks and Recreation Board and the Parking Advisory Board. The program was passed on first reading on Nov. 19 and adopted on second reading on Dec. 3.
San Marcos Parks and Recreation Director Jamie Lee Case said the fees for parking for nonresidents would fund cleaning and other amenities for the park instead of those coming out of the general fund, which is created by resident tax dollars.
“[The fines and fees] go into a Parks Revenue account to be sewn back into park improvements within the riverfront system,” Case said. “We pay a premium to make sure that our riverfront parks are kept clean during the summer season from litter, keep our restrooms clean, make any additional repairs that happen due to overuse and other things. So there is a substantial cost to the overall maintenance and upkeep from having those visitors come and put a lot of stress on our system.”
San Marcos City Council Member Amanda Rodriguez was concerned with the impacts on those with lower incomes.
“I think one of the concerns I have with this ordinance is the us versus them,” Rodriguez said. “We are wanting people to come here, spend their money, buy things from us because we understand that it benefits our economy. But at the same time saying, ‘Well, if you’re coming here, we are going to require something different.’” … Then you also have the proponents that believe that fines and fees actually deter people who can’t pay these fines and fees from utilizing our services. Then it turns into a class system.”
Case said the idea behind residents parking for free was to avoid putting an undue burden on those that are already tax payers.
“This beautiful river system is an amenity for them to enjoy free of charge,” Case said.
San Marcos City Manager Stephanie Reyes said the Visitor’s Bureau conducted riverfront park research and found that nonresidents make up the majority of visitors, but they are not contributing to the San Marcos economy.
“They are not spending money in our hotels. They are not spending money in our restaurants per say. A lot of them come with coolers and things that are already pre-made, but then the residents here in our community are having to pay for the systems that we’re talking about,” Reyes said. “Somebody’s got to pay for it, so it's either our existing residents through our tax rate to support that or you got to look at how these fees come in …. And what’s the right balance?”
San Marcos City Council Member Alyssa Garza said she was worried the follow through would be “lackluster.” She said she preferred to spend more time on this to ensure it was “fully fleshed out.”
“There’s vagueness on the registration process. There’s vagueness on the appeal process,” Garza said. “There is so much literature that exists about how people, especially the younger generation, are not even checking their mail. …. Are our neighbors going to opt into this?”
Gleason said the parks are “overwhelmed,” and he didn’t want to hold up this program any further, particularly when the ticket could be voided for residents on the back end.
The parking schedule would be free for 30 minutes. It would be $5 for 30 minutes to one hour and $10 for one to two hours. It would cost $15 for the day, and holidays (Memorial Day Weekend, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day Weekend and Labor Day) will cost $25 as a flat fee.
According to city documents, “The enforcement technology that is planned for that parking lot will alleviate the need for Parking Enforcement Staff to monitor the lot for violations in person. Instead, the lot will be monitored by stationary cameras that will capture a license plate as it enters and exits the parking lot. That information will be identified electronically by the enforcement system and verified by a city of San Marcos employee when a violation of non-payment is flagged. Upon review and verification by a staff member the enforcement system will prepare a citation and letter to the registered owner of the vehicle.”
For residents to receive free parking they must have one of the following: a valid drivers license, current San Marcos utility bill with photo identification, other current utility statement with photo identification or an enhanced library card from the San Marcos Public Library.
