Public and aldermen debate new downtown parking limits as bill to amend Union Street parking is introduced

Residents, business owners and aldermen debated downtown parking on Tuesday after the clerk read a proposed ordinance to amend parking restrictions on Union Street.

Dawn Boyles, a long-time downtown tenant, said prior short-term parking experiments had been disruptive. "When you start limiting spots...they're going to park in front of my building now," Boyles said, arguing that restricting spaces could push workers and patrons into other neighborhoods and hurt small businesses.

Martin Christiansen, facilities manager for Pacific Facility, urged a four-hour limit to stop long-term parking that he said has taken spots for months. "If somebody parks an old jumper in front of the dog's place for months on end, she can't do anything unless the plates expire because there's no ordinance to cover that," Christiansen said. He said businesses have no recourse now except when plates expire and called four-hour parking a modest solution to free up front-door customer access.

At the dais, Alderman Madrigal — who sponsored Bill 5273, described in the clerk's reading as "an ordinance amending parking restrictions on Union Street" — said she received calls both for and against restricting spaces and urged caution. "That is public parking, and I think it should remain public parking," she said, noting multiple business owners had called with concerns about how restrictions could affect access.

Alderman Stewart and others emphasized business and social-service uses downtown, saying some facilities provide public benefits and that parking changes should weigh those factors. Several aldermen suggested a targeted approach rather than a broad restriction, and Mayor Felley and Public Works Commissioner Bergman discussed the possibility of commissioning a parking study by an engineer to evaluate long-term options, including reconfiguring on-street parking.

No final Board vote on Bill 5273 was recorded at the meeting. The ordinance was introduced and discussed; aldermen asked staff to collect more input from affected businesses and to consider a study to determine if changes such as four-hour limits, placard systems for repair shops, or other reconfigurations would help.

Separately, city staff and board members discussed enforcement of expired plates and vehicles parked for repair in front of service businesses; aldermen proposed a dashboard placard system for repair shops and to invite auto-repair owners to provide input at a future meeting.

The board left the measure without a final action and asked staff to gather more information and stakeholder feedback before returning to the issue.