Sonoma City Council approves downtown parking for rideshares, taxis

There will soon be three fewer public parking spots on the Plaza, which are being converted to newly designated taxi parking spots to safely meet Sonoma’s ridesharing needs.

At the Sept. 7 City Council meeting, council members voted 4-1 to approve converting three existing parking spots to short-term taxi/ridesharing pick-up and drop-off spaces. Councilmember Madolyn Agrimonti was the lone “nay” on the move, saying she wanted more clarity on whether background checks would be conducted on the drivers who want to park in the three spaces.

Public works and police staff reviewed various options and proposed installing three fixed, permanent taxi-ridesharing parking stalls on the three mid-block crosswalks at the west, north and east sides of the Plaza. One will be outside Fairmont Gallery, one outside the Sonoma Cheese Factory and one outside the Sebastiani Theatre. City Engineer Dan Takasugi expects the stalls to be marked and delineated within two months time.

According to Takasugi, “We’re hoping to encourage use of taxis and ridesharing services to offset parking demands on the Plaza, and also to avoid passenger pick-up in busy locations that endanger other vehicles and off-loading (or) loading passengers.”

“We are very happy about this,” said Sonoma Taxi owner Magal Mangal. “Our customers will know where to find us and we will have a safe legal place to pull in.”

The idea for the marked stalls originated as part of the City Council’s annual list of goals. The goal here is to move taxi and ride share pick-ups and drop- offs to the center of each major side of the Plaza so that fewer vehicles are backing out at the four corner intersections of the Plaza. By placing these stalls adjacent to the mid-block crosswalk, City staff also hopes that the visibility will be improved for crossing pedestrians, assuming that the three stalls will frequently be vacant.

The stalls will be marked with signage as well as pavement marking at their entrance as well as in white paint on the curb.

The stalls will have a three-minute time limit, with an emphasis on drop off and pick up, but without specific enforcement planned. Takasugi clarified that the stalls are not like hotel “taxi stands” you might find in a big city but instead meant only for pick-ups and drop-offs.

The financial impact to the City of the plan is minimal. The Public Works staff will expend about eight to 12 staff hours and the cost will be approximately $2,000 in materials to install the stalls.

City staff expressed optimism about the new reserved parking stalls but Takasugi pointed out, “If it doesn’t work out, we can always convert them back.”

Contact Lorna@lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.