Sandpoint staff previews parking‑management plan: passes, paid parking on congested blocks and in‑lieu fees proposed

City planning staff presented an updated parking management plan to the Planning and Zoning Commission on April 15 that proposes targeted paid parking on the busiest downtown blocks, a $40 monthly downtown resident/business employee pass, boat launch fees, and a change to how residential parking requirements in the downtown parking‑exempt zone might be handled.

Jason Welker, the city planner leading the effort, framed the proposal around a planning concept called effective capacity — the industry rule of thumb that a parking facility is operating efficiently when roughly 85% of stalls are occupied. Welker said the city’s 2022 parking study (conducted during a summer week) showed large variances in utilization across lots and blocks. He reported that downtown on‑street stalls were about 57% occupied at the noon peak, while the city parking lot reached 83% occupancy at the same time. Welker said staff’s analysis shows roughly 296 additional street‑parking vehicles could be accommodated at peak hour before reaching the 85% threshold in the downtown study area.

Key proposals staff described:

- Time limits and passes: revise free parking durations for pass holders (current draft: 3 hours in downtown lots for resident/business passes and 6 hours at the city beach; nonresident passes: 2 hours downtown and 3…