Parking citations in Salinas up 50% in new partnership

The city of Salinas said it is seeing some major results, four months after a new parking enforcement partnership began.

After receiving complaints from business owners and residents about drivers not following posted rules, the city took action. Using $269,000 in voter-approved Measure G funds, it hired Serco Inc. in November to enforce parking throughout the city.

“We just started in November and even November was a soft start, they were just giving people warnings,” said James Serrano, transportation planner for Salinas.

But it’s made a difference.

From July to October, 2,742 citations were handed out. From November to February, Serco officers handed out 4,656 citations. That’s more than 50-percent more. Some of the most common parking violations are going over time restrictions, which can come with a $39 fee. Parking in a disabled zone can cost someone $296.

“The enforcement is deployed throughout the city where the need is, but the bulk of citations written is coming from two areas,” Serrano said.

Those two areas are downtown, where Serrano said many people go over the 90-minute parking and near Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, where drivers need permits to park in some residential areas.

Another problem area is East Alisal and Sanborn, where parking is limited to one hour.

The idea of parking enforcement isn’t just to relieve parking in residential areas but to help business owners.

“One of the goals is definitely to serve the businesses in the area by applying the right amount of enforcement,” Serrano said. “We can affect a turnover in parking in front of businesses.”

However, one East Salinas business owner said it’s fellow tenants who are getting busted.

“They’ve cited here, but just us,” Rosario Maldonado said. “Because we need to unload our merchandise, we park here out front, and when we are done offloading and go back out, the driver has a ticket in their window.”

The citations, along with penalties, have brought in more than $373,000. Of that, only $191,000 has actually been paid. Some of that money is slated to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles, Franchise Tax Board and the county. Salinas’ piece of the pie is still unknown. The city hopes to have more answers by June.