Parking at the San Diego Zoo will be $16 for non-members and remain free for members when a new parking policy takes effect Jan. 5 — the same day paid parking in the rest of Balboa Park begins.
City residents will get a 50% discount and pay $8 per day. A zoo spokesperson said late Wednesday that employees and volunteers will park for free.
The parking rate is lower than some expected. It’s lower than the $20 general parking rate and the $45 preferred rate at the zoo’s Safari Park near Escondido. At SeaWorld, general parking is $25, up-close parking is $28 and VIP parking starts at $35.
The $16 rate is the same as what the city will charge non-residents for parking spots closest to Balboa Park’s most popular attractions.
The zoo didn’t announce Wednesday how it will split parking revenue with the city. Zoo and city officials have been negotiating a parking revenue agreement, along with a lease extension, since last summer.
Preliminary estimates supplied by the city projected that annual parking revenue at the zoo would be $11 million and that the city would get $3 million of that. But it’s not clear what rates those estimates were based on.
Zoo officials said in September that they expected the negotiations to conclude in December. They didn’t give an update Wednesday.
A spokesperson for Mayor Todd Gloria said Wednesday that the mayor had no comment on the new zoo parking policy.
Patty Riddle, chair of the Balboa Park/Morley Field Recreation Council, said Wednesday that the zoo parking rate was much lower than she expected.
Some Balboa Park leaders have expressed hope that significant revenue from zoo parking could allow the city to lower the costs for parking permits in the park.
The zoo has declined for decades to make visitors pay to park, but the zoo’s hand was forced when city leaders decided last spring to help solve their budget problems by imposing parking fees elsewhere in Balboa Park.
If the only free parking in Balboa Park were the roughly 3,000 spaces in the zoo’s large lots, budget-minded visitors to other parts of the park could monopolize those spots and make parking near the zoo quite difficult.
The zoo’s lease has always allowed it to charge for parking, but the zoo got permission from the city in September to give discounts to employees, volunteers, city residents, zoo members and possibly others.
A comprehensive description of the zoo’s new parking policy is available at zoo.sandiegozoo.org/parking.
The $16 fee will allow guests to park all day. They will be able to pay at kiosks with credit cards, debit cards, GooglePay or ApplePay.
The fee is relatively low compared to admission fees. A standard adult ticket for the zoo is $76, children 3 to 11 cost $66 and children under 3 are free.
Zoo members get to park one car per day for free. They must register the vehicle online.
The parking fee applies to motorcycles. People with RVs must pay $32 if their RV takes up two parking spaces.
New city parking fees in Balboa Park also take effect Jan. 5.
People living outside the city will pay $16 a day to park in lots closest to the park’s center and $10 a day to park in lots a bit farther out.
City residents will pay $8 a day to park in the most convenient lots but will also get the option of paying only $5 if they park there for less than four hours. And city residents will pay $5 a day to park in lots a bit farther out.
All park users will be allowed to park for free for three hours at Inspiration Point, an overflow lot at the park’s southern edge where trams take people to the park’s more popular destinations.
After three hours, residents will have to pay $5 a day to park at Inspiration Point and non-residents will have to pay $10 a day.
The zoo runs weekend shuttles from Inspiration Point that could allow some zoo visitors to avoid the $16 charge.