Roswell residents, businesses push back as city advances paid parking pilot for new Green Street deck
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Summary
Nearly 30 speakers at Roswell’s March 31 open forum urged the council to pause a pilot to charge for downtown parking, arguing the move breaks promises made during a $20 million bond campaign, harms employees and small businesses, and lacks clear cost and implementation details.
Hundreds of residents and business owners packed the Roswell City Hall forum on March 31 to oppose a proposed pilot to charge for parking at the new Green Street parking deck and other municipal lots. Speakers called for a pause until city staff provide clearer cost estimates, enforcement details and baseline demand data.
“Paid parking at the Green Street Parking deck is not just a policy disagreement. It’s a breach of trust between the city of Roswell and its residents,” said Ben McIntyre, who urged officials to stop the program until all facts and figures are public. Multiple speakers repeated that assertion, saying voters were led to expect free parking when they approved the bond that helped fund the 395-space deck.
The complaint over paid parking threaded through the evening: business owners warned that charging employees to park will squeeze low-wage workers and reduce the labor pool, while property owners and entrepreneurs said fees would drive customers to neighboring downtowns that keep parking free. Brian Longacre, director of operations for RO Hospitality, said the proposal would “constrict our talent pool” for restaurants that rely heavily on hourly staff.
Speakers questioned the process used to approve the pilot. Several, including Bill Ray and Robert Paradis, asked for explicit numbers—land acquisition and construction costs for the Green Street deck, the one-time and ongoing costs to install and run a pay system (the PACE or payment equipment), and the projected maintenance and operating expenses per space. Ray flagged Resolution 10331 (03/09/2026) as reviving a parking-as-revenue approach and urged the city to show a stand-alone incremental cost for the Green Street project rather than bundled figures.
Advocates for free parking proposed alternatives to a blanket pay model: dedicate certain lots to employee monthly passes (the gravel lot behind the fire station has 66 spaces and has been mentioned as an option), maintain free resident access via stickers or passes, or identify other cost savings in the $200 million budget to cover operations. Jason Yao recommended ending the gravel-lot lease and redirecting maintenance dollars rather than imposing user fees that could depress downtown visits.
City Administrator Randy Knighton told the audience the city will record questions posed during the forum and post answers online within one to two weeks. Mayor Mary Robichaud closed the evening by thanking attendees for their participation and saying the city will publish responses and supporting documents.
The council did not take any vote on the parking pilot during the forum; speakers urged officials to delay implementation until detailed pricing, enforcement, and impact analyses are publicly available. The administration’s next public posting of responses will be the first formal follow-up promised at the forum.
