Cheyenne council repeals downtown time-limited paid parking after hours of debate

The Cheyenne City Council voted March 10 to repeal the city's paid on-street parking districts and related time-limited parking rules on third and final reading, after more than two hours of public comment and council debate over alternatives including free garage parking and a temporary sunset for any new program.

The repeal removes the city's authority to impose time-limited on-street parking within the Downtown Development District as described in the city code and sends downtown parking policy choices back to council and staff to pursue with business stakeholders.

Councilmembers and downtown stakeholders framed the issue as a choice between encouraging customer turnover on commercial streets and reducing perceived barriers for people who come downtown to shop and dine. Several downtown business owners and property representatives told council they supported repeal; others warned that removing time limits entirely would allow long-term parkers and employees to occupy curb spaces and harm small retailers.

"I think it's worth a try," said Councilmember Dan Seagrave, who argued the city could save enforcement costs and boost downtown visitation by eliminating time limits and, in a later amendment, by offering free parking in the municipal garages. Seagrave told colleagues the city had spent nearly $300,000 a year enforcing downtown parking and pointed to a figure of about $202,051 in citations issued during a recent period as evidence enforcement was not working as intended. "If people didn't have to pay for parking in the garages, I believe it would encourage people to come downtown," Seagrave said.

Downtown property owners and business groups pushed back. Rob Dickerson, representing the Boyd Building downtown, said block-face rules (that require a vehicle to move beyond a single block face to reset the time limit) are poorly signed and often catch visitors by surprise. "Block face is not posted anywhere," Dickerson said. "It's an unknown thing. The way you find out about it is you park somewhere you're not supposed to." Several speakers representing the Downtown Business Association and individual property owners said two prior studies on downtown parking had not been fully implemented and urged the council to follow study recommendations rather than repealing the program outright or experimenting with ad-hoc changes.

Council amendments failed and passed in successive votes. Seagrave first proposed an amendment that would have removed time-limited parking throughout the Downtown Development District and parking garages; that substitute failed. He then proposed an amendment to make the two municipal garages (Cox and Jack R. Spiker structures) exempt from time limits so they would be free to use, arguing that moving long-term parkers into garages would free curb space for customers. That amendment initially tied free garage parking to preserving existing permitting for reserved large-user spots and drew concerns about lost parking revenue and debt service. Councilmember Jennifer Rennie successfully added a sunset amendment requiring the free-garage provision to expire on June 30, 2026, unless the council renewed it; the sunset amendment passed. Attempts to limit free garage parking to only one structure or to a 24-hour maximum failed. The proposed free-garage-with-sunset measure ultimately ended in a 5-5 tie and did not take effect.

City Treasurer Robin Lochman told council that parking revenue from the garages was about $191,000 and that the city still has a bond balloon payment coming in 2028; combined indebtedness on the two garages is just over $3 million. Lochman said if garage parking revenue were removed the city would need to pay bond obligations from other general fund sources.

Cheyenne Police Captain James recommended maintaining gated access and license-plate readers in the garages if the council wanted to remove fees but still deter misuse and track lengthy stays. "My recommendation would be still go with the gates," Captain James said. "The gates also come with the license plate reader, so you'd know when people come in and when they leave. So we'd be able to track the unsavory people who do things they shouldn't be doing in the parking garage." Several councilmembers raised public-safety and maintenance concerns and asked for improved messaging and enforcement plans before making structural changes.

Public comment was robust. Business owners including Astrid H. (Plains Hotel), Caleb Wilkins (Colony Building and Coal Creek Properties), Corey Lothree (Downtown Business Association representative), and owners of Parkway Pizza urged repeal of the paid on-street program but differed on the desirability of eliminating time limits entirely. Some downtown employees and residents urged a compromise that protects turnover for customers while offering affordable options for employees.

After roll-call vote, the ordinance repeal passed on third reading. The clerk recorded the final vote with Councilmember Seagrave the lone no: Esquivel—aye; Layborn—aye; Moody—aye; Rennie—yes; Roybal—yes; Seagrave—no; White—yes; Aldridge—yes; Collins (Mayor)—yes; Emmons—yes.

Councilmembers and several speakers said they intend to continue working with the downtown business community to implement recommendations from earlier parking studies, consider technology options such as app-based enforcement or license-plate readers, and explore targeted incentives (for example, pilot programs for garage pricing or reserved spaces) before making additional code changes.

What happens next

The repeal takes effect as adopted; councilmembers and staff said they expect a series of follow-up work sessions with downtown stakeholders and city departments to develop replacement policies and implementation plans. Multiple councilmembers urged improved communication and joint work with the Downtown Development Authority, the Clean & Safe program, and business owners before any further changes to parking regulations or garage pricing are made.

Sources: Cheyenne City Council meeting transcript, March 10, 2025; on-the-record public comments and council roll call.