Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Parking Policy topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Sandpoint advances parking-management plan amid downtown lot rehab and public engagement
Summary
Planning staff reported ongoing public engagement on a proposed parking-management plan, updates to the downtown parking-lot resurfacing project, and proposed policy changes including a six-hour resident pass at City Beach and changes to on-street time limits.
City planning staff and public works briefed the Sandpoint City Council on March 19 about an active public engagement process for a parking-management plan, changes to the draft proposal based on feedback, and an imminent downtown parking-lot resurfacing project.
Jason Welker, planning and community development director, said the parking-management public engagement has drawn more than 1,000 responses to a satisfaction survey; about 40% of respondents are city residents. Welker said staff propose a draft change that would offer 6 hours of free parking at City Beach for city-resident pass holders and remove the 4-hour time limit on certain on-street spaces to increase availability of all-day parking for downtown employees.
"We're now proposing 6 hours of free parking at City Beach for city resident pass holders," Welker said, noting that six hours is seen by many respondents as sufficient for a day at the beach. He also said eliminating the time limit on some 4-hour street parking would increase all-day on-street capacity by roughly 65% in the downtown core, based on staff calculations.
Welker said the parking survey has generated many comments mentioning a parking garage; more than 200 respondents referenced a garage. He emphasized that a funding source would be needed to support construction and maintenance of any garage, and that paid parking is one revenue option for long-term parking infrastructure.
Public Works Director Holly Ellis said the downtown parking-lot resurfacing project will be advertised for bid (advertisement to run for two weeks) with construction expected to start in April and finish the first week of May. She described a short closure window of about three weeks for the lot and said staff, with the police department, will temporarily relax enforcement of some on-street time limits to provide displaced employees and customers on-street parking during construction.
Welker also noted the parking plan now includes consideration of boat-launch fees for Memorial Field to avoid shifting demand to neighborhood streets, though the boat launches are not otherwise being folded into paid-parking zones at this time.
Council members asked staff to share survey responses and to disaggregate responses by residency; staff agreed to provide access to response data for council review. No formal council action was taken at the meeting; staff said they will continue engagement and return with refined proposals.
