City leaders in St. Joseph say they’re still listening to the community as the start of a new paid parking season nears.
After a rocky rollout to paid parking last year and the program’s subsequent suspension, the city has greatly scaled things back for this year. City Manager Emily Hackworth and Community Development Director Kelly Ewalt say the new paid parking season starts on June 12, bumped back from June 1 after some restaurant owners warned their busy season really doesn’t start until mid-June.
“Let’s ease our way in,” Hackworth said. “Let’s show that we’re here to provide a solution to a problem. So if that problem is greatest starting in mid-June, we wanted to be responsive to that.”
Hackworth tells us the number of paid spaces is drastically reduced this year as well, to help the employees of downtown businesses.
“We want to hear from the employees. Are they finding parking? They were really frustrated last year about needing to cross Main Street for free parking or paying on the west side of Main Street. We’ll hear from businesses about how things are going for them. When a program like this really works, it boosts their sales.”
So, Ewalt says they’ve made a big change from last year.
“All the lots are free,” Ewalt said. “Some of them do have time limits, the three hour limit, but a lot of them are all day. So we have maps that will be handed out to the businesses. It’s all online. All the lots are free. It’s just on street and not even all of the on street is paid.”
Ewalt says the city has gone from more than 800 paid parking spaces last year to about 175 this year. She also notes city residents can still park for free wherever they want as long as they register their vehicles with the city. Just call city hall.
Hackworth said the parking plan is about freeing up spaces where they’re needed and when they’re needed. She said a rule of thumb when trying to make a program like this is work is to aim for 80% space utilization.
“So that means if you’ve got 10 spaces, two of them are open. That’s sort of the sweet spot. So Kelly has access to all the data. Our enforcement vehicle also provides data. So you’ll be able to see when you look at a block, is there regular turnover?”
Public input is still being taken on the parking plan, which can be changed at any time with action by city commissioners.
Paid parking takes effect June 12 and will run between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. through Labor Day.
