Council hears parking, garage and permit plan; staff outlines pilots, technology rollout and revenue scenarios

City staff on Sept. 23 outlined the Uptown parking program that will coordinate the new parking garage, a pilot technology rollout, a residential permit pilot and pricing scenarios intended to manage demand and generate revenue for operations and transit.

Amber Wagner (transit administrator) and Kurt Harris (public works director) described an integrated parking-management platform to include occupancy monitoring, wayfinding, mobile payments, enforcement and permitting. City staff said they will pilot the technology in a municipal lot this fall with full integration timed to the Uptown garage opening and rollout in winter 2026.

Residential permit program: Staff proposed a pilot residential-permit zone covering about 123 spaces on Smith, Wilson, Van Daren and Price streets (between Forest Road and Schnebly). Staff said current outreach indicates about 70% of responding residents strongly support permit protection with other respondents asking for additional information. Staff said the program would be modeled after the Rim Shadows permit program and that initial implementation is planned to be phased in winter 2026, coordinated with the garage opening.

Lot consolidation and supply changes: Staff reported several downtown lot changes: the fire department purchased Lot 1 (about 70 spaces) and those stalls are now offline; Lot 2 returned to private control with about 32 spaces still available but not publicly managed; Lot 8 (about 23 spots) is offline for garage staging. Staff said consolidation to fewer, better‑managed municipal locations would reduce circulation and support wayfinding.

Revenue and pricing scenarios: Staff presented preliminary scenarios that model hourly fees (examples cited at $2.00, $2.50 and $3.00 per hour) and estimated potential surplus ranges for the garage at different price points; staff emphasized these were scenario examples and that Athena Partners (consultant) is working on fee-structure recommendations, which staff expect to present in October. Staff said surplus revenue could support garage operations, permit enforcement and transit programs.

Employee parking and business partnerships: Staff reported outreach to businesses and property owners about business-led, city-supported employee parking solutions; some private lot owners have expressed interest in participating in a consolidated system and staff said the city would coordinate but not directly administer a business-run employee-parking program.

Uptown garage construction update: Staff gave a construction update on the Uptown garage (concrete pours planned through October–November per contractor schedule) and said target delivery and full activation of integrated parking systems are timed with the garage opening next winter/early 2026; staff noted some target milestones and said they will provide the detailed scenario models to council offline before fee decisions are finalized.

Next steps: staff will deliver pilot results, fee scenarios and models to council for further direction, refine residential permit details (guest rules and enforcement), continue outreach with businesses and private lot owners and return with recommendations for fee structure and enforcement options.