Millbrae moves toward downtown paid parking program

“One of the greatest challenges in downtown to the businesses is folks who want to come in. They circle around 10 minutes, they can’t find parking and then they leave,” Vice Mayor Anders Fung said. “I think being able to allow folks to find parking easily within the first couple rounds circling Broadway and El Camino Real is key.”

Councilmembers gave the city the authority to set the framework for a future parking program and said a request for proposals would be circulated in the coming weeks.

They also established a parking enterprise fund, which would ensure revenue from the program would be used only for parking-related needs and approved the use of Automated License Plate Reader technology to run and regulate the future program. ALPR data would not be used for criminal investigations and would be separate from law enforcement, staff said.

Questions remain around how the city will mitigate potential parking overflow into nearby neighborhoods, which could potentially be handled with the creation of a no-cost residential parking permit program.

“As we introduce paid parking, there’s going to be some people who want to park further away so they can get free parking,” Mayor Stephen Rainaldi said. “I really hate to see the strain this could put on these neighboring communities, so I think that needs to be included in the thought process.”

That concern was also put forth by residents who spoke during public comment. Another anxiety community members voiced was ensuring that residents of all ages would be able to use the paid parking systems, which commonly use smartphone technology. One resident, Ken Smith, suggested that Millbrae create an all-ages subcommittee to vet user experience of the new program.

“We’re modernizing Millbrae, no doubt. Paid parking is on our forefront, no doubt,” he said. “I would request to have a senior, middle-age and youth subcommittee from the residents as the [Request for Proposal] gets presented.”

Making the parking system as easy to use as possible is in the city’s interest so that drivers are in compliance and turnover occurs, Fung said, whether that’s via meter or app.

“There are a lot of strategies which can enhance user experience. It may not be always having a meter in front of the parking space. There are many ways to ensure the user experience is as user friendly as possible,” he said. “We don’t want to write tickets. We want people to be in compliance.”

The City Council will continue to discuss parking rates and solicit resident feedback at future meetings.