My wife and I recently visited San Diego with another couple and dined at Extraordinary Desserts on Fourth Avenue. We found a metered parking space directly across the street and paid for one hour of parking.
Our receipt expired at 2:20 p.m. When we returned to our car at 2:34 p.m. — just 14 minutes late — we found a parking citation. The total cost was $53.50.
This was not careless parking or abuse of the system. We paid, supported a local business and missed the meter by a matter of minutes. A penalty of this size feels less like parking management and more like revenue generation.
Experiences like this discourage visitors and hurt neighborhood businesses. If San Diego wants to remain welcoming, it should reconsider parking enforcement policies that punish minor, good-faith mistakes.
— Michael Cavanaugh, University City