Attachment 2. On-Street Parking Recommendations
Currently, El Camino Real has 479 on-street spaces (202 on El Camino Real, 277 on side streets) and 1,890 off-street spaces across 28 parking lots and facilities. On-street parking activity is generally concentrated in the central and southern portions of the corridor, particularly south of Arroyo Drive. North of Arroyo Drive, on-street parking is not permitted on most block faces on El Camino Real.
In May 2025, the City hired DKS Associates, a transportation engineering and planning firm, to conduct a Parking Study to better understand parking patterns and needs on El Camino Real and along side streets throughout the day and on the weekend. The study found:
• Peak overall occupancy on El Camino Real reached 49% (96 of 202 spaces), while side streets reached 66% peak occupancy (182 of 277 spaces). • Although removing on-street parking along El Camino Real may create localized shortages, eliminating all curbside spaces appears feasible because nearby lots have ample unused capacity. The total off-street capacity (1,890 spaces) significantly exceeds the maximum observed on-street parking demand (96 vehicles). • Regarding limitations of the study, only about 40% of the surveyed capacity (747 spaces) is available for unrestricted public use; most spaces are reserved for specific business patrons or employees. More fundamentally, the study documents when and where vehicles are parked along El Camino Real, but not the reasons for parking. Without insight into trip purposes, it may not be possible to determine whether displaced users could legally or practically utilize alternative facilities with access restrictions.
As a part of the community outreach and engagement for this plan, City staff conducted outreach to businesses located on and near El Camino Real to better understand their parking needs, and also asked for input on parking during general community engagement events. Community input emphasized the need to maintain some on-street parking along El Camino Real, particularly in front of Kaiser Permanente and businesses that do not have off-street parking.
The project team combined input from the engagement with the data gathered from the parking study to create Map 1, which illustrates locations that should maintain on-street parking, remove on-street parking, or maintain the existing “no-parking” restrictions. Generally, the project team used a threshold of 60% or greater occupancy on both weekdays and weekends for maintaining parking along a segment.
Over time, these on-street parking spaces could convert into loading or unloading zones or spaces for third-party delivery platforms, such as UberEats, DoorDash, and others, as needed.
Map 1. Proposed On-Street Parking
Southwood Shopping Center
Regarding parking along El Camino Real that serves the businesses at the Southwood Shopping Center, the parking occupancy study found that occupancy levels for both the on-street parking along this segment of El Camino Real and the adjacent off-street parking lot remain below the 60% threshold of occupancy on weekdays and weekends. Given the available capacity within the off-street parking lot, the project team proposes removal of existing on-street parking along this segment of El Camino Real. However, this can be refined during the design phase, as needed.