SAN BRUNO, Calif. (KGO) — A new paid parking program in downtown San Bruno is causing problems for small business owners.
Rebecca Morano is the owner of One Love Café.
“So the biggest problem right now is that people are being made to pay for an entire hour, so they can't increment parking on the high street.”
On April 1, the City of San Bruno introduced pay-per-plate kiosks on downtown streets and parts of El Camino Real.
Some locations require payment 7 days a week, 8am to 8pm
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Casey Dyson, a San Francisco resident who comes to downtown San Bruno with her family, says she has to take swim lessons that last an hour, two or 30 minutes.
“In San Francisco, it's mostly something like an up arrow, down arrow, ticking every 15 minutes. I think something like that is much easier and very intuitive,” Dyson says. .
On Wednesday night, Morano hosted a community meeting inside the cafe to address concerns. City Council members Tom Hamilton and Marty Medina were in attendance.
They've heard stories of kiosks not working at their establishments or hurting business because customers only want to park for minutes instead of hours.
Marty Medina said he will make sure the message gets across loud and clear to the city.
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“Ultimately it is up to the City Council to listen to the community, provide feedback through the City Manager, and request changes,” Medina said.
Medina said it's still in the early stages of the program.
“I think there's a solution here, it's just a big change,” Medina said.
Two City Council members who attended the meeting said they are currently working with city staff to adjust the time increments so they don't have to pay for an hour or two.
Taher Shehadeh, owner of Bethans International Market, said that for many years, parking for two hours was free. Shehadeh said he is not opposed to paid parking programs, but would like to see adjustments.
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“Because a lot of times people come here for a minute and then leave right away. And it's not worth getting a $50 ticket,” Shehadeh said.
For Rebecca Morano, this is an urgent issue, she said.
She said she lost 30% of her business in April.
Morano will continue to advocate for small business owners and residents affected by parking programs.
“It's too much, it's too expensive, it doesn't work. But the answer we keep getting is that it takes time, and as a small business owner without resources, you don't have time,” Morano said. .
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