Where does someone who works an eight-hour shift on Mt. Diablo Boulevard park? Lafayette's own parking study points to that question as the cause of downtown's crowded holiday blocks. This season the city is changing the rules in two steps to answer it.
The first step was adopted this fall. It sets graduated, all-day rates for five downtown locations. At one of them, the Gazebo lot, private weekday leases continue through December 31. The second step arrives on January 1, 2027. On that day the Gazebo lot at 3429 Mt. Diablo Boulevard stops being a private weekday lot and opens to everyone, for the first time in decades.
A downtown with 1,100 empty spaces at its busiest hour
The city's Downtown Parking Management Study, finalized in April 2026, counted 3,388 parking spaces in its study area. At the busiest time of a typical weekday, 52 percent of them were full. On a typical weekend the figure was 55 percent. That left more than 1,100 spaces empty at the peak. The study measured those numbers against an 85 percent "effective capacity" benchmark, the point where a lot starts to feel full. By that measure, it found downtown is overparked by 35 to 38 percent.
The Downtown Core holds 1,855 of those spaces. Peak occupancy there was 56 percent on a weekday and 67 percent on a weekend. Even the core stays below the 85 percent line on average. Some blocks still fill up, and the study's authors explained why. They wrote that "high-demand blocks create the perception of scarcity." They blamed fragmented public and private ownership, inconsistent signs and time limits, and unclear labels on which lots are public.
The study also named a cause that affects anyone running errands downtown in December. "Limited long-term employee parking pushes workers into short-term customer spaces, reducing turnover and straining businesses," it reads. It also noted that many private lots showed long stays, a sign that employees were using them informally. When a worker's car sits in a two-hour space from morning to closing, that space serves one person all day instead of several shoppers.
Step one: the five locations with new rates
On September 28, the City Council adopted Ordinance 704. Resolution 2026-51 set the days and hours of enforcement. Together they put five downtown locations on one graduated rate: $2 for up to an hour, $4 for up to two hours, $4.50 for up to three hours, and $5 for four hours or more. The daily maximum is $5. Lamorinda Weekly reported that the spaces are open to employees, customers and visitors alike. None of them are reserved for a particular business.
| Location | How it worked before | Under Ordinance 704 | When payment applies |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dolores Drive, Mt. Diablo Blvd. to Via Roble | All-day parking for $5 was already allowed | Graduated rate, $5 daily cap | 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday |
| Happy Valley Road, metered spaces by BART | All-day parking for $5 was already allowed | Graduated rate, $5 daily cap | 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday |
| Oak Hill Road, Mt. Diablo Blvd. to Deer Hill Road | Metered on the east side only | Both sides metered, graduated rate | 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday |
| Ace lot, 3299 Mt. Diablo Blvd. | 16 metered spaces, three-hour limit | Graduated rate, all-day parking allowed | 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday |
| Gazebo lot, 3429 Mt. Diablo Blvd. | 37 unmetered spaces, 24 leased to three businesses on weekdays | Graduated rate, all-day public parking once the leases end January 1, 2027 | 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday |
Parking at all five locations is free in the evenings. The two city lots are also free all weekend, and the three streets are free on Sundays. The unmetered two-hour spaces on Happy Valley Road stay as they were.
The three streets had already offered all-day parking for $5 before the ordinance. At the September 14 meeting, city staff noted that this option had not been well publicized. On those streets the bigger change is clarity: one rate schedule at every location, listed in the City's October 30 roundup. The study had flagged inconsistent rules as a cause of frustration, and this change addresses it.
The Ace lot shows the mismatch most plainly. It sits just east of Ace Hardware, east of Carol Lane, and has 16 metered spaces with a three-hour limit. The city's 2024 data counted a midday weekday peak occupancy of zero percent. The lot sat empty because its three-hour limit didn't suit anyone working a full shift. Allowing all-day parking there gives employees on the east side of downtown a legal place to park for the day.
One space is gone from the map entirely. Caltrans required the city to remove on-street parking on First Street between Mt. Diablo Boulevard and Deer Hill Road, so the ordinance also took that stretch out of the meter zones.
Step two: the end of a private lot on public land
On weekdays, the Gazebo lot has carried a sign many downtown regulars will know: "Private Leased Parking – Violators Will Be Cited." A second sign reads "Public Parking – Evenings and Weekends." The city owns the lot. It has 37 spaces, and 24 of them are leased among three businesses for weekday daytime use. The other 13 aren't leased, but the signs still restrict the whole lot during the busiest hours of the week.
The arrangement goes back decades. According to the August 10 staff report, the timeline runs like this:
- 1986, 1999 and 2011: The city signed parking agreements tied to a neighboring property on Mt. Diablo Boulevard.
- June 30, 2014: The 2011 agreement expired and continued month to month on the same terms, with termination allowed on 60 days' written notice.
- September 22, 2014: The City Council directed its Parking Ordinance Committee to develop a program to end private leases in public lots, including the Gazebo lot.
- May 23, 2016: The Council approved ending private business leases in city-owned lots unless the parking was required as a condition of a project's approval.
- August 10, 2026: The Council voted 5-0 to adopt Resolution 2026-36. It granted one final lease extension and authorized ending the leases.
- December 31, 2026: The final extension expires.
- January 1, 2027: The lot becomes longer-term paid public parking, open to employees, customers, visitors and anyone else.
The policy took twelve years to reach the pavement. Staff said they plan to run the Gazebo lot for all-day parking, including employees on typical 8- to 10-hour shifts. They will watch demand and adjust rates or operations as needed. At the August meeting, Transportation and Circulation Program Manager Patrick Golier said the meters will allow up to eight hours. He also said some areas will let drivers pay by scanning a QR code.
At that meeting, Vice Mayor McCormick confirmed that no one will keep a roster of employees. The working assumption is that a car parked at 8 or 9 a.m. probably belongs to an all-day employee. Anyone can still use an open space in the afternoon.
The west side gets a BART option too
The Gazebo lot covers central downtown and the Ace lot covers the east side. On the west side, help came from BART. The Lafayette station's South Lot is now open to downtown visitors and employees while commuter capacity remains available. Through BART's existing parking program, drivers can buy reserved parking before 10 a.m. or daily-fee parking after 10 a.m. BART said it will give advance notice before returning the South Lot to commuter-only use. BART will keep managing the lot, with payment through a BART app.
Put together, this gives downtown three all-day parking areas spread from west to east: the BART South Lot, the Gazebo lot, and the Ace lot. They join the existing Employee Permit Parking Program in participating private lots, which runs through the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce and ParkSmart. Free on-street parking with the usual time limits remains on the streets around the Gazebo lot.
The city describes the rates as a way to give employees "more affordable options" for long stays while "maintaining convenient options for customers and visitors making shorter trips." Simpler time limits, clearer signs and maps, and a single management approach are still to come from the study. The city has said more changes are expected.
How the new rules line up with December downtown
The holiday calendar falls between the two steps. The new street and Ace lot rates are on the books, and the Gazebo leases still run through December 31.
- Friday, December 4, 4 to 6 p.m.: "It's a Wonderful Life" tree lighting at Lafayette Plaza, 3530 Plaza Way. The Lafayette Chamber lists Santa, train rides, live music, crafts and treats, and the event is free. It's a weekday, so the Mon–Fri rules apply. Meters on Dolores, Happy Valley and Oak Hill and at the Ace lot run until 6 p.m. The Gazebo lot keeps its weekday private-lease signs, and its evening public hours start once those end.
- December 4 and 5: Santa's Sleigh Holiday Bazaar at the Lafayette Community Center, open from 10 a.m. Friday through 5 p.m. Saturday. On Saturday, the Gazebo and Ace lots are free, and the three metered streets charge until 6 p.m.
- Wednesday, December 9, 5 to 7 p.m.: Chamber Holiday Mixer and Vendor Fair in the Great Hall at St. Perpetua Church, 3454 Hamlin Road, with Chamber-member vendors selling holiday gifts.
- Sunday, December 13, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.: Contra Costa Vintage Market in the Zahra Boutique and BMO Bank parking lots at 3583 Mt. Diablo Boulevard. The market takes over two private lots, but on a Sunday all five new-rate locations are free.
- All season: The median lights along Mt. Diablo Boulevard are lit for the holidays. The Lafayette Library's winter art exhibits by Mark T. Ebner, Melissa Wang and Nan Wang stay up at 3491 Mt. Diablo Boulevard through January 25, 2027.
When the decorations come down in January, the Gazebo lot's weekday signs come down too. That adds 24 spaces, every weekday, to the public all-day supply in central downtown. City staff have said they will watch how the lot is used and adjust the rates.
The Rita Dhillon Team has followed downtown Lafayette through many of these slow city decisions, from the first lease-policy votes in 2014 to the one that takes effect this New Year's Day. If you'd like to talk through how changes like these shape the blocks around your home, or how they might come up when you sell, Rita Dhillon Team is glad to sit down with you. Book an Appointment.
