Downtown business owners tell Troutdale Planning Commission construction parking is hurting customers

Lee Rogers and Michelle Pierce, owners of the Yield Public, told the Troutdale Planning Commission on Jan. 8 that construction worker parking and upcoming apartment parking at the Confluence site are making it difficult for customers to find spaces.

The exchange came during the commission's public comment period, when Rogers said the pair had emailed staff and were unclear about long-term plans. Rogers said construction workers are using on-street spaces near downtown businesses and that customers “circle around two or three times and then they go some miles.” Pierce said the issue is already affecting lunch service and raised concerns about parking availability during downtown events such as First Friday in the summer.

Dakota Meyer, associate planner for the City of Troutdale, said the Confluence site is the 19-acre parcel north of the railroad tracks behind the outlet mall and that a long-term vision includes a parking garage with a pedestrian bridge over the railroad to downtown. Meyer said the city will issue a request for proposals for that site later in January and that any garage “will not be functioning as a parking garage for some years.”

Meyer told the business owners the city is preparing a downtown parking study expected to wrap up in late February or early March, and staff will present a “suite of parking management tools” for council consideration. He listed typical options — improved signage, two-hour time limits and better enforcement — and said the council will decide what to implement in the near term.

Because the apartment development will provide resident parking, Meyer said, much of the added demand will fall to on-street spaces that businesses rely on. He said staff will contact Brennick Construction and the on-site project manager to limit their workers' use of street parking and will propose nearby off-street parking for construction crews to reduce impacts on downtown customers.

Rogers and Pierce said they will follow up by attending the downtown parking study community advisory meeting when staff sends the date. Meyer said he would provide the project website link and follow up with the owners about short-term construction parking options.

Ending: Meyer advised the owners to raise the issue with the City Council at its next meeting for additional tools the council can deploy. The commission did not take formal action on the comments; the item was recorded as public comment and staff follow-up.