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Town begins 90‑day paid‑parking trial after kiosk rollout; merchants press for 2‑hour curbside free plan
Summary
After reactivating paid parking kiosks Aug. 4, town staff reported early transaction and citation figures and said a 90‑day trial will compare the town’s paid‑lot model with a merchant‑proposed hybrid that keeps curbside spots free for two hours.
Town IT and parking staff reviewed the phased return to paid parking at a workshop Aug. 25 and described a 90‑day trial designed to compare the town’s lot‑based paid model with a merchant proposal to reserve curbside spaces for short‑term (two‑hour) free parking.
IT Director Bill Irvin told council the town replaced old, damaged coin meters with credit‑card and cash kiosks in 2024 and activated enforcement again on Aug. 4 this year after a pause and additional public outreach. He said the initial rollout drew strong public reaction and that an internal parking committee (IT, finance, police, public works, marketing, judicial) met with the Taos Merchant Group to develop a trial plan.
Trial design and early results: The committee agreed on a 90‑day trial to compare models and scheduled a follow‑up meeting in November. Irvin said the town has reactivated enforcement and improved kiosk and wayfinding signage; he reported 3,888 kiosk transactions and 142 citations issued between Aug. 4 and mid‑August, of which 131 had been paid. On‑site kiosk revenue and permits for that period included about $14,175 for kiosk transactions, $3,510 in ticket revenue and $479 from permits, totaling roughly $18,164. Irvin said the Plaza lot was the highest revenue generator in the period.
Merchant concerns and council discussion: Representatives of the Taos Merchant Group and downtown merchants urged that prime curbside spaces on Bent Street, Kit Carson Road and around the historic plaza be treated as short‑term turnover spaces with a strictly enforced two‑hour free limit, leaving the lots for longer‑term parking. Merchants said the plaza and curbside parking directly support storefront customers and said the change had harmed foot traffic and business on the plaza. Some merchants reported sharp declines in sales; one merchant estimated a 40% drop and said public morale was low.
Staff response and operational limits: Irvin and staff said additional signage for two‑hour curbside limits is being produced and will be placed on Bent Street, Kit Carson Road, Paseo and other named streets. They cautioned that strict enforcement requires staff and equipment; current enforcement capacity is limited to a small number of parking attendants and one handheld license‑plate reader while a vehicle‑mounted license‑plate reader (LPR) remains to be refitted and deployed. Irvin said staff will attempt to move LPR hardware to an enforcement vehicle but noted contractual, procurement and training steps remain.
Next steps and caveats: Council asked staff to complete signage and return in November with trial data; staff said they may extend the trial window if the two‑hour signage and enforcement are delayed so the comparison is meaningful. Staff also noted potential revenue and fund implications (Fund 33) and said any major reallocation of proceeds or permanent program changes would come back to council for policy decisions.
Ending: The council and staff agreed to run the trial, install the two‑hour curbside signage and reconvene in November to assess citation patterns, lot revenue and merchant concerns. Staff also committed to improved public communications and to working with judicial staff on citation processing.
