SAN BRUNO CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING
April 29, 2025
Public Comment(s)
1 Lupita Huerta
From: Nancy Foreman < >
Sent: Monday, April 28, 2025 12:00 PM
To: City Clerk
Subject: Fwd: Comments for Special City Council Meeting April 29, 2025 regarding Parking Meters
Nancy
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: Nancy Foreman
Date: April 28, 2025 at 8:04:02 AM PDT
To: "Alex D. McIntyre City Manager" <[email protected]>, Rico Medina <[email protected]>, Michael Salazar <[email protected]>, Tom Hamilton <[email protected]>, Marty Medina <[email protected]>, Sandy Alvarez <[email protected]>
Subject: Comments for Special City Council Meeting April 29, 2025 regarding Parking Meters
Please insert my comments if not out loud then in the packet that gets distributed.
Thank you.
Dear Mayor Medina and Council,
I read the report to be presented to City Council April 29, 2025. I understand the police department's fiscal responsibility
to make sure if hours for operating meters are cut that they propose the revenue is made up elsewhere by
raising the rates for the remaining hours.
However, I ask each of you what is more important?
To encourage people to come downtown to shop or revenue? At what point do you stop throwing money at these poorly designed meters that are difficult to use?
Council, please think about your answers as this will show your true colors and how much you care or don't care
about our downtown.
Thank you in advance.
Nancy Foreman
From: Alex McIntyre
To: Jennifer Leaver; Lupita Huerta
Subject: FW: Parking in San Bruno
Date: Tuesday, April 29, 2025 3:13:37 PM
Alex D. McIntyre
City Manager
City of San Bruno
567 El Camino Real, San Bruno, CA 94066
(650) 616-7056 / [email protected]
Don’t miss out on the latest news, subscribe to the City Manager’s e-Newsletter! …the City with a heart
-----Original Message-----
From: shawna
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2025 3:01 PM
To: Rico Medina <[email protected]>
Cc: Sandy Alvarez <[email protected]>; Tom Hamilton <[email protected]>; Michael Salazar <[email protected]>; Marty Medina <[email protected]>; Alex McIntyre <[email protected]>
Subject: Parking in San Bruno
To the City Council of San Bruno,
I am a resident of San Bruno, and have been very unhappy with the parking program since it started.
As someone who started a family in San Francisco and LOVED the city, I thought I was moving to a city with a heart when relocating to San Bruno. But where is the heart? Community centered is not using the revenue from the parking program to pay for enforcement. At least in SF they pretend that revenue goes to public transit.
I received a $50 parking ticket as I was paying for parking. The enforcement waits for people to turn their backs on their cars to give tickets that then take away from essential items like gas and groceries. I have spoken with many business owners on the Ave and they have lost significant business. So who does the parking support? San bruno is a working class city and the downtown is full of mom and pop shops, which gives the city flavor. It is clear that the city wants to gentrify San Bruno and drive these small businesses away.
The bare minimum ask would be to make parking paid from 10-6, fix the broken meters and make Sunday free.
Please show residents and merchants that this actually is the city with a heart and do the bare minimum.
Shawna M
Sent from Proton Mail Android
1 Lupita Huerta
From: Nicholas Rackard-Hilt < >
Sent: Tuesday, April 29, 2025 4:30 PM
To: City Clerk
Subject: Fwd: Public Comment – Downtown Paid Parking Program and Opportunity for Capital Improvement
Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
From: Nicholas Rackard-Hilt m>
Date: April 29, 2025 at 4:20:29 PM PDT
To: Rico Medina <[email protected]>, Marty Medina <[email protected]>, Tom Hamilton <[email protected]>, [email protected], [email protected], Lupita Huerta <[email protected]>
Subject: Public Comment – Downtown Paid Parking Program and Opportunity for Capital Improvement
Dear Mayor and Members of the City Council,
I am submitting a public comment on the Downtown Paid Parking Program agenda item.
There are several issues with the current program, but two stand out as especially concerning.
First, the one-hour minimum payment structure places an unnecessary burden on residents and small business patrons. Many people have voiced frustration about being forced to pay for an entire hour even when they’re only stopping by one of the markets to pick up a few items for dinner quickly. This discourages short, local visits and undercuts the accessibility of our downtown.
Second, ongoing problems with the parking system's functionality—ranging from responsiveness issues to technical delays—have eroded public trust. For many, the system has become more of a hassle than a help.
Given these issues, the City should strongly consider starting fresh with a new parking system that better meets the community's needs. This isn’t just about making minor fixes—it’s about investing in a long-term solution that is functional, flexible, and community-friendly. Replacing the existing system with updated infrastructure that allows for shorter time intervals, better user experience, and improved technology would be a meaningful capital improvement.
2 I urge the City to explore funding this through the San Bruno Community Foundation, which was created to support projects that offer lasting community benefits. A reliable, accessible, and equitable downtown parking system meets that standard.
Thank you for your ongoing efforts to improve the quality of life for San Bruno residents and to support our small businesses.
Sincerely,
-Nick
Nicholas Rackard-Hilt
San Bruno Healthy Homes
From: Sadana Traxler
To: City Clerk
Subject: Public Comment
Date: Tuesday, April 29, 2025 7:07:57 PM
Hi Honorable Mayor, Councilmembers, and City Staff,
I'm submitting my public comment on behalf of the San Bruno Improvement Group and as a proud business owner in downtown San Bruno, sharing my personal experiences and the challenges I witness downtown every day.
I want to start by saying that I support the parking program—but not in its entirety, as some would suggest through sweeping generalizations or online commentary.
As business owners, we need turnover. We need to create convenient spaces for our seniors, for visitors, and for the people who are choosing to patronize our businesses. People will pay for convenience, they’ll have no problem if they feel it's a fair rate, easy, and they can find a spot when they need one.
And I'll say it: compared to other cities, our rates are very fair.
What I’ve seen and heard in real time is that what frustrates people the most isn’t the concept of paying for parking—IT'S THE KIOSKS. It’s the confusion, and the fact that they don’t work consistently. This is a fixable issue. It will be costly, but it must be addressed, especially since it's the number one complaint next to the residence parking program and city staff and council is well aware of it.
Additionally, another improvement would be allowing users to move their cars between city parking lots without having to pay again, as long as their license plate still has time credited.
Another easy win would be adding signage on the Big Belly trash cans—that reminds people to pay and clearly displays the rates along with the qr code and a map.
These are highly visible, underused spaces. Let's work to help visitors avoid getting citations.
These are just some of the things that can go a long way in improving our visitors experience and encouraging return.
Now—I've heard the city say that the parking program wasn’t created to generate revenue. But here’s the thing: once you fix the kiosks—either by replacing them or hardwiring them so they work reliably—and once the contract with LAZ is no longer a financial risk to the city, this program can generate revenue for downtown. It could become an entirely new stream of income. And if it’s treated like a business—one that reinvests directly back into the metered area by funding new sidewalks, repaving the back lots, installing brighter lighting, and more— then everyone benefits.
That brings me to this my proposal. I'm asking the city to seriously consider creating a Parking Benefit District (PBD) for downtown.
Other cities have done this — and it works. In Pasadena’s Old Town, parking meter revenue was reinvested into clean streets, trees, better sidewalks, and lighting. That district came back to life.
In Boulder, Colorado, 85% of net parking revenue goes back into the district paying for beautification and safety upgrades.
This is what we need. Because if people can see where their money is going — if they know that dollar they drop in the meter is going toward benches, lights, sidewalks ... possibly the streetscape plans in the feature. Their perspective of the parking program might just change.
Right now, we’re missing that transparency and the promise of reinvestment.
This could be another missed opportunity.
CityNet could’ve been a source of income if the city had invested in keeping it up to date and now, with the San Bruno Community Foundation about to dissolve, you’re losing one of the city’s greatest tools — one that funded grants, scholarships and could fund more then one or two legacy projects.
The parking program risks becoming another example — a program with huge potential to earn a steady stream of revenue, turning our downtown into something beautiful.
We need bold steps to rebuild trust.
A Parking Benefit District could be one of those steps.
You’ve already got the meters.
Now show the community what they can do.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
Sadana Traxler
President, San Bruno Improvement Group
Business Owner, Twice As Nice