Council adopts downtown parking plan, endorses wayfinding and safety actions

The Independence City Council on Oct. 22 adopted Resolution 24‑1619, approving a downtown parking management plan prepared by Toole Design that recommends a suite of strategies to better use existing stalls and address localized high‑demand areas.

Consultant Carrie Ascar summarized a year‑long process of inventorying downtown parking, turnover counts, stakeholder interviews and public outreach. She reported three main findings: downtown has ample parking capacity overall; many stalls are occupied less than half the time; and a few blocks experience consistently high demand that creates user frustration and safety concerns. "Downtown can meet parking demand and improve user experiences without building new parking," she said.

The plan promotes four strategy areas — demand management, shared parking and private lot clarification, code amendments to reduce unnecessary parking requirements, and safety improvements near intersections — and identifies near‑term, low‑cost actions such as improved wayfinding, a public information hub for available parking, and steps to better manage private off‑street lot use. Councilors and the consultant discussed diagonal parking, employee parking strategies, and monitoring occupancy to trigger further actions when utilization approaches the 85% threshold the plan uses for targeted interventions.

The council voted to adopt the resolution upon the recommendation of staff and the planning commission. The record shows the resolution number and that the motion carried by voice vote. The council indicated code amendments to implement some recommendations will be considered in a future ordinance process.

Next steps: City staff will bring proposed code amendments to the planning commission and council in November and pursue near‑term actions such as improved wayfinding and outreach to private lot owners about shared parking opportunities.