Friends of Redlands is working to keep you informed as to the developments downtown. As you know we collected 7700 signatures to get the Citizen’s Growth Initiative on the ballot and the city delayed the vote until November 2022. In the meantime the city is working very quickly to put in place requirements to nullify The Initiative.

For example, on October 12, the Planning Commission recommended that the City Council vote to modify the parking requirements for developments downtown. These new requirements are contrary to the parking specifications in the Citizen’s Growth Initiative and follow very closely the parking requirements in the Transit Villages Specific Plan Draft (TVSPD) that has not yet been approved. Here is a big question: Can the city do this without approval of the Transit Villages Environmental Impact Report? Friends of Redlands will be asking this question of City Planning.

If the city can make these types of peremptory decisions just wait for the PAID PARKING downtown. Yes, in the Transit Villages Specific Plan Draft PAID PARKING is coming to downtown Redlands.

Chapter 6 of the TVSPD states “That the parking supply is important to the economic success of downtown.” But then the Plan says an “oversupply of parking takes up valuable land that could be used for better purposes, while encouraging additional automobile use.” The plan also says that research has shown that parking needs downtown are often 25% to 50% less than needed and that some cities have reduced parking, and in some cases, eliminated it. The Plan says that parking should be managed efficiently and that it is “reasonable to implement paid parking programs.” “Parking strategies also include in-lieu fees, parking time restrictions, parking permits, or other types of paid parking ….” Remember when Redlands had PARKING METERS on State Street? Frustrating to say the least.

So, there you have it. As more and more people live in the Transit Villages Area and traffic and density increases Redlanders can look forward to parking meters, parking permits, time limited parking and other paid parking schemes.