Longview council workshop adopts phased parking plan, directs staff to return with safety, signage and permit proposals

LONGVIEW — At a March 27 Longview City Council special meeting workshop, consultant Rick Williams presented a final draft downtown parking management plan and the council gave staff direction to return with proposals for safety and signage improvements, simplified time limits and options for resident and employee parking permits.

The plan, prepared by Rick Williams Consulting with input from a Stakeholder Advisory Committee (SAC) and the Downtown Advisory Committee (DAC), lays out immediate, midterm and long-term actions. Williams told the council the city’s downtown currently has roughly 1,300 on-street stalls and about 3,300 off-street stalls; public control is limited to 11 lots with about 753 stalls. He said peak occupancy across the public system is low (about 47%), but there are concentrated constraints on Commerce Street and parts of Broadway where block-face occupancies reach about 85 percent or higher.

Why it matters: Council members said the plan gives a path to relieve perceived parking constraints without large immediate capital outlays, while addressing public-safety perceptions that discourage downtown visits. Councilors asked staff to return with specific proposals that could be implemented quickly (signage, lighting, basic lot repairs and outreach), and with options for phased enforcement and permit programs to move employees off on-street stalls and prioritize customer access.

Williams summarized the plan’s guiding principles: prioritize short-term on-street access for visitors and customers on commercial block faces,…