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Council sends 1-hour free parking proposal to Internal Affairs after staff warns of revenue, enforcement challenges
Summary
Staff told council a one-hour free parking pilot in downtown’s premium zone would likely reduce parking enterprise revenue substantially and create enforcement challenges; after public comment and discussion, the council voted 6-1 to refer the feasibility study back to the Internal Affairs committee for further work and options.
City staff told the council that a one-hour free parking concept focused on the premium downtown zone would reduce parking revenue, complicate enforcement and could lower turnover, and the council directed additional study.
Public works director Bridal Ottoboni presented an operational analysis requested by the council. Staff said the premium downtown core (Wall–Salem, First–Fourth) accounts for about 43% of on-street parking revenue (roughly $350,000 a year). Ottoboni reported the parking enterprise fund has been operating in the red and that a substantial revenue reduction likely would require subsidies from other funds for ongoing maintenance and staffing.
Key staff findings - Average customer stay in the premium zone is about 1 hour 15 minutes (kiosk users) to 1 hour 25 minutes (Passport app users); economy lots show longer stays. - Enforcement staff use license-plate-reader (LPR) patrols and estimated a roughly one-hour enforcement cycle time for a pass through enforcement areas; staff said the city’s two parking enforcement officers could not consistently enforce a free-one-hour rule without additional resources. - Staff estimated the loss of revenue could be in the range of several hundred thousand dollars annually and warned the IPS kiosks would be difficult to configure for a clean one-hour-free user experience; Passport (mobile) payments are easier to adapt.
Public comment and business viewpoints - Multiple downtown business representatives said short-term free parking would help retail visitation. “Parking is the biggest issue for businesses downtown,” Audrey Taylor (representing business interests) said. - Small business owners asked for pragmatic fixes such as simplified kiosk instructions, expanded short-term curb spaces, or targeted validation codes for customers. - Parking Services Manager Jesse Horgan noted Chico State and campus spillover are already significant: the university’s general parking supply fills by midmorning, which increases competition for downtown stalls.
Council action - After extended discussion the council voted 6-1 to refer the feasibility and implementation alternatives to the Internal Affairs committee for additional work, including consideration of targeted validation, employee parking strategies, and operational deployment. Mayor Reynolds was the sole dissent.
What happens next: Internal Affairs will return with additional options and implementation scenarios, including possible pilot designs, enforcement models, app- or kiosk-based validation, and financial impacts for council consideration.
