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Los Banos moves forward with downtown parking study as merchants, residents urge clearer employee parking rules
Summary
City staff proposed an RFP for a consultant to produce a downtown parking management plan after presenting an inventory of more than 2,000 spaces and drone snapshots showing low utilization; merchants urged turnover controls, clearer signage and short‑term stalls to protect customer access.
City staff asked the Los Banos City Council on July 1 to approve a request‑for‑proposals to hire a consultant to prepare a downtown parking management plan, underscoring that the city’s challenge is management — not simply supply. Economic and community development staff said the objective is to improve access, support local businesses and optimize existing parking.
“Parking challenges are not just about supply,” Stacy (economic and community development director) said during the presentation. “It really is about the management, turnover and accessibility, and that’s what’s critical.” Staff reported a downtown inventory of more than 2,000 spaces and showed drone snapshots taken June 19 at 10:45 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. that indicated roughly 259 spaces were occupied at the morning snapshot.
The proposed study would survey customer versus employee parking, measure turnover and time limits, examine perceptions of supply, and evaluate safety issues such as lighting and school‑drop‑off impacts. Staff said the work will include outreach to merchants, property owners and residents and will produce planning‑level cost estimates that can feed into the city’s traffic‑impact fee.
During public comment, longtime merchant Anna McCaulay urged operational fixes rather than immediately expanding supply: “I’ve always recommended that Sixth Street be one way coming into the plaza … that will enhance that area,” she said, and suggested more diagonal parking and short‑duration stalls for some uses. Other business owners echoed the need to keep customer spaces available for shoppers — particularly elderly or mobility‑limited residents — and to educate employees about off‑street parking options.
City staff outlined near‑term, budgeted improvements — including signage to route drivers to public lots, alley repaving to aid circulation and slurry/striping in several parking lots — that will proceed while the third‑party study is completed. Police and code enforcement officials said enforcement capacity exists but that the department lacks a dedicated downtown parking officer; many parking complaints today are handled by patrol or code staff.
The council did not take a formal policy vote on the plan’s recommendations at the July 1 meeting; staff said next steps are to incorporate council and public input into the RFP and select a consultant to prepare a draft parking management plan for future review and direction.
