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Royal Oak moves to modernize downtown parking: Flowbird rollout, Rochester license agreements and a Director of Parking
Summary
The commission approved license agreements for eight Rochester Road parcels, endorsed a transition to Flowbird pay stations and ParkMobile, and created a Director of Parking position to centralize operations. Staff said the position is funded from the parking enterprise fund and the new system will begin Jan. 1.
Royal Oak commissioners on Oct. 27 approved a package of parking-related actions: license agreements for paved parking in the Rochester Road right-of-way, confirmation of a downtown transition from the MPS parking system to Flowbird pay stations and ParkMobile mobile payments, and creation of a new Director of Parking position funded from the parking enterprise fund.
Rochester Road license agreements: City Engineer Donahue presented eight proposed license agreements for paved parking along a half-mile stretch of Rochester Road between 13 Mile and 14 Mile. The agreements formalize reconstructed concrete pull-offs for property owners who applied; other noncompliant paved pull-offs will be returned to grass unless a cost agreement is completed. Staff said letters were mailed twice to property owners; bids for the reconstruction will be collected in January or February, and final costs will be recovered through special assessments with a 15-year payback plan. The commission approved the license agreements by voice vote.
Parking system and Director role: Staff described a transition away from MPS to Flowbird pay stations and ParkMobile, planned to begin Jan. 1, and outlined a broader parking-management restructuring. The administration proposed a full-time Director of Parking to centralize operations across garages, surface lots and on-street spaces (roughly 4,000 spaces). The Director will own capital planning, standards, vendor/contract oversight (an RFQ for a parking-management contractor is underway), permit management and customer-service coordination. The position will be funded from the parking fund (an enterprise fund that supports system needs); staff estimated the parking system revenue at roughly $4,000,000. Recruitment was scheduled to be posted Oct. 29 with an aim to have a hire by January. The commission approved creation of the Director of Parking position by voice vote.
Why it matters: Centralized parking management and updated pay-station technology are intended to improve consistency, customer service and revenue stewardship for downtown businesses and visitors while formalizing temporary pull-offs in the Rochester corridor ahead of resurfacing.
Next steps: Staff to finalize contract documents and special-assessment calculations after bids, proceed with the Flowbird rollout and post the Director position for recruitment.
