Marshall Hospital presents parking study; commission told managing existing spaces is cheaper than building new

Marshall Hospital representatives gave the Placerville Planning Commission a detailed update on parking counts and a management plan on March 18, saying the campus currently has more supply than daily demand and that targeted management can address the hospital’s primary problems without constructing new parking.

Marshall’s director of support and facilities, Tak Saito, and civil engineer Frederick Venter presented multi‑year parking counts (2022–2025), a campus map of 772 total spaces and a heat‑map showing peak occupancies. Venter told commissioners that the overall campus occupancy peak remained below the conventional 85% threshold used in parking management (about 79% morning peak, roughly 79% afternoon), leaving an estimated 65–82 available spaces at peak times. He said the data indicate a parking structure is not required and that surface parking or a structure would be expensive on the site’s slope (staff cited approximate cost estimates during the presentation). Venter recommended “right‑sizing” parking by improving use of existing lots rather than adding new capacity.

The hospital said its principal management approach will be to shift staff parking into Lot 12, a staff lot on Washington Street that shows low utilization in the counts, and to relabel and reissue decals to clarify physician, patient and staff zones. Marshall described two temporary off‑site gravel lots that it has leased and received temporary use permits for; those lots are being used while the hospital implements its management program. Marshall also said it will add an emergency phone at Lot 12, consider escorts from security to parked cars and evaluate making the walk more pleasant (a walking trail) rather than operating a permanent shuttle.

Marshall acknowledged staff currently park in patient lots near building entrances and said the management plan will aim to reduce that practice through reassignments, new decals, signage and stepped‑up enforcement. The hospital suggested follow‑up counts this fall to measure effectiveness. In response to public comments about historic homes purchased by the hospital in past years, Marshall said most properties had been resold and that at least two residential structures were demolished because they were in poor condition and unsafe.

Commissioners asked whether Lot 12 would have a shuttle and whether the temporary lots are leased. Hospital staff said the lots are leased on a year‑to‑year basis and that a shuttle is not planned because Lot 12 is a short walk; they emphasized incentives, visibility improvements and safety measures instead. Marshall agreed to return with updated counts and an implementation report after management measures have been in place for several months.

The presentation was received as an information item; no action was required of the commission.