Parking fees have gone up at the Morro Bay launch ramp, but the City has increased the ways you can pay the fees. Photo by Neil Farrell
The cost to park at the Morro Bay launch ramp has been increased, and who has to pay was expanded.
As of the start of March, the Harbor Department increased the costs for long term parking in the Tidelands Park/boat launch lot at the south end of the Embarcadero and expanded it to include regular parking stalls.
It’s also installed a new kiosk pay station and increased the ways one can pay the fees.
“There is no fee for boat launching,” the Harbor Department’s rules and regulations say, “however, there is a fee for parking.”
Single stalls (normal sized parking spaces) are now $5 a day. They used to be free. And the longer stalls, sized for trucks with boat trailers, are $12 “for a 24-hour period from purchase.”
There are annual passes available from the Harbor Office, $83 for a single stall and $200 for the trailer stalls.
The kiosk has three payment methods — using a credit card at the kiosk; paying through a Smartphone app — Park Smarter, or by texting “PAY” to phone number 7747 with the zone number “MORRO.”
You must follow the instructions on the kiosk or through the mobile app to complete the purchase. You won’t get a ticket to stick on the dashboard.
As for who is enforcing the new system, Harbor Patrol officers will be charged with that duty. A parking citation is $60 and since it’s an “infraction” of a City ordinance, if you want to contest it, there’s a City run appeal process to go through instead of traffic court.
Of note, the parking fee is tied to the license plate of the vehicle, so there’s no transferring it.
Also, if you don’t want to pay for parking while out on the water, there are two other parking lots in the immediate area that remain free — one is at the north end of Tidelands Park upland from the side tie dock, and another is further down Embarcadero at the base of the Morro Avenue bluff. There are also a handful of street spaces on the Embarcadero leading to the park.
It does not appear that someone using the park for a short time, perhaps to eat lunch at a waterside picnic table, to use the public restroom or the children’s playground will have to pay for parking.
The launch ramp is the only parking lot in town that charges for parking, for now at least.
