The new Paso Robles parking program went into effect Wednesday. The Paso Robles City Council approved the plan last month.
The price to park in downtown Paso Robles for more than two hours just doubled from $1 per additional hour to $2; however, visitors will still receive the first two hours for free.
"A lot of people will just stay for two hours and shop and go, 'Let's just go. Let's just go home.' And I think the businesses will lose money," said Debbie Wheeler, Oak Shores resident.
When parking downtown, visitors will need to enter their license plate number and start a parking session via a pay station, pay by text or through the new Flowbird mobile app. After the first two hours, it will charge you.
"So you wanna hurry up and get your free two hours and then be gone as opposed to hanging around and spending more money," said visitor Scott Default.
"Yeah, they're not like buying as much stuff so it's kind of slowing us down and making us less money," said Devante Bailey, Pappy McGregor's host.
"I don't like it. It makes it harder for people to come down here and enjoy the park and to go out to eat, so it just discourages visitors I think so I'm not for it. I'm against it," Default said.
"You're drinking, having fun and then you go, 'Oh my gosh, the parking!" Wheeler said.
One restaurant employee says he is already seeing a decrease in business as people protest the new parking rates.
"Like, a lot of the people are mad about it so they're like, not really coming in. They usually come in for 2-3 hours but now they're just like coming in and like going," Bailey said.
While the cost of parking downtown has increased, there are still some free parking spots available if you look for them. You may just need to walk a few more blocks.
No changes are being made to the senior parking or employee parking downtown.
KSBY News reached out to the city for comment on the reason behind the parking changes. Officials said, in part, “The city is continuously evaluating the program to improve user experience while ensuring customers continue to have convenient parking options to support downtown businesses."
