Board committee approves 3‑year Central Parking lease for two Seawall lots after merchant concerns

The Board of Supervisors' Budget and Finance Committee approved a resolution to lease two waterfront parking lots to Central Parking System, a nationwide parking operator, under a three‑year contract that the port commission recommended.

The port’s leasing manager, Jeffrey Bauer, told the committee the award followed a competitive process and that the lease guarantees a minimum rent of nearly $6 million over three years and provides revenue share based on the greater of a minimum rent or 66% of gross revenues. Bauer said the agreement would modernize operations at the Triangle Parking Lot and Seawall Lot 314 by adding revenue‑capture equipment, gates, signage and a validation program for Fisherman's Wharf merchants.

Why it matters: The agreement is expected to produce a large increase in port revenues compared with existing arrangements but touched off strong objections from Wharf merchants who said the scale and the RFP’s qualifications precluded long‑time local operators from bidding.

Merchants’ concerns and audit allegation: Several restaurant and merchant representatives said validated parking is essential to their businesses and asked the port to preserve merchant participation, signage and rules for validated parking. Jeffrey Pollock of the Fisherman's Wharf Restaurant Association said the association and current operators were effectively precluded from the RFP and alleged problems with the controller’s audit, saying the controller’s report was “manufactured by the port and the controller's office to put us in a bad light.” That allegation was not substantiated at the hearing and was not resolved during the committee session.

Budget analyst recommendation and committee amendment: The budget analyst reported that Central Parking submitted the highest scoring bid (the analyst referenced a minimum monthly rent figure in the competitive scoring) and recommended the committee amend the resolution to require the port to return before the Board at the end of the three‑year term to explain plans to competitively rebid or justify continued holdover status. The committee adopted that amendment and approved the underlying resolution without objection.

Contract controls: Port staff said the lease includes an operating and customer‑service covenant, requires compliance with city ordinances (including prevailing‑wage and displaced‑workers rules) and that the validation program and signage will be part of the lease; port staff said special‑event pricing is capped at 20% above posted rates.

What’s next: The port will execute the lease and the committee added the budget‑analyst’s report‑back requirement to the resolution; the full Board will receive the item per the Board’s calendar. The committee did not publish a roll‑call vote tally in the hearing transcript; the item moved forward by unanimous voice approval in committee.