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Parks director proposes $7 "premier" parking at Bay Beach for 69 stalls
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Summary
The parks Director proposed designating 69 of roughly 1,400 parking stalls at Bay Beach Amusement Park as optional 'premier' parking at $7 per day to generate operating and development funds; the committee discussed enforcement, accessibility and revenue estimates and will forward the proposal as a recommendation to the common council.
The parks Director proposed on April 15 that Bay Beach Amusement Park designate 69 of roughly 1,400 parking stalls as optional "premier" parking at $7 per day to create a new revenue stream for park operations and development. The Director said the fee would be collected through the city's Passport parking system, by text or via the city website.
The presentation stressed that Bay Beach is self-funded and that the park pays its own operating expenses. "What we're proposing here is to allocate those 69 stalls for paid premier parking at $7 a day," the Director said, adding that revenues from the daily fee would go directly into the Bay Beach account to help fund operations and set aside money for improvements.
The Director said handicap-accessible stalls would remain free and would not be part of the paid program. Enforcement would be handled by the city's parking division, which would be able to verify payments through the app and issue citations; citation revenue would be retained by the parking division to cover enforcement costs.
On finances, the Director provided a theoretical maximum: if all 69 premier stalls sold every day of the season, the program could generate about $59,000. He cautioned that sale every day was unlikely and offered a more conservative estimate of about $30,000–$40,000 per year. "I view this as a trial. I'm proposing let's give it a shot," he said.
Committee members asked procedural and equity questions. A committee member asked to confirm that handicap stalls would remain free; the Director replied, "Correct. We would only charge for the regular stalls." Heather Wright, introduced by staff as Heather Wright, said public reaction she solicited was roughly split and expressed concern about raising costs at a park that is traditionally affordable. Another committee member said the optional, limited nature of the program made it acceptable: "If it were not optional, then I would not be in favor of it. But because we've presented it as a premium option... it makes sense to me."
Staff noted minimal startup costs—mostly signage produced by the DPW sign shop—and that the trial could be reversed by removing signs if the program failed. The Director said any excess revenues after operations are funded would be transferred to a Bay Beach development account and later brought forward to appropriate committees for project-specific approval.
The committee discussed the proposal and voiced general support but a formal committee motion and vote on the premium-parking pilot are not recorded in the transcript. The Director and Chair said items voted on by the committee would be recommendations to the common council for final approval.
