South Ogden officials, businesses scramble after hotel posts paid-parking signs in Electric Alley

South Ogden City officials and downtown business owners scrambled Wednesday after a new hotel management group and a private operator placed paid-parking signs in Electric Alley, a portion of downtown where the city and businesses have shared rights.

The problem began after signs placed near the Marriott and Electric Alley created confusion over property lines and prompted reports that some customers were being told they could be ticketed or charged. "They did take down those signs. Those signs are down," Emil Vargas, the city's parking coordinator, said. "They are going to leave them down, from my understanding, throughout the month of April, and they are going to have better painted parts on the asphalt to better indicate where their parking lot ends and where ours begins."

City staff said the signs were posted under the new hotel management and by a private parking operator, identified in the meeting as Diamond Parking. Mara Brown, a city staff member who led the briefing, told councilors the incident and an unrelated April Fools' social media post about tearing down Union Station together required "damage control" and used significant staff time and taxpayer resources. "Joking is not always funny. It's that cost us real resources and real bandwidth," Brown said.

Why it matters: Downtown business owners said they feared customers would be charged for parking on city-owned parcels where the city posts two-hour limits by permit. Vargas told the council the private operator was charging $14 for two hours at the location where the signs were placed, which business owners said risked deterrence of customers and lost sales.

What the city said it would do: City staff said they had contacted the hotel's new management and the private operator, reached a temporary removal of the contested signs, and scheduled follow-up steps with stakeholders. Brown said the city had convened a team immediately and executed a communications plan, and that staff planned a stakeholder meeting on April 14 to present permitting, pricing and other managed-parking details. "We're hoping that we can come to a resolution here within the next few weeks," Vargas said.

City staff described several operational fixes that are being pursued: repainting asphalt to make lot boundaries clearer, better coordination with the hotel's parking provider to allow a single app or unified payment experience, and continued enforcement practices for two-hour limits. Vargas described enforcement difficulties elsewhere on 20th and Fifth Streets, where limited patrol capacity and a practice of moving vehicles a few stalls can reset the two-hour window; he said Electric Alley is easier to patrol because officers can walk the lot.

No formal action or vote was taken at the work session. Councilors and staff emphasized coordination with the hotel and with downtown businesses to avoid future confusion while city staff finish a managed-parking proposal. "This instance absolutely highlights the need for a managed and coordinated parking approach downtown," Brown said.

Ending: City staff said they would continue negotiations with the hotel's new management and Diamond Parking, return to stakeholders with a parking plan after the April 14 meeting, and aim to finalize permit and pricing proposals within a few weeks. The council did not take a formal vote; follow-up will be administrative and stakeholder-driven.