Marion advances Uptown parking plan: signs and a consultant are next steps

Nicole (city staff) updated the council that the Uptown Parking Implementation Task Force had grouped the parking study’s seven immediate strategies into three priority tracks—signage, communication, and hiring a parking‑management consultant—to make incremental changes in the uptown core.

"The task force started out by ranking the seven implement‑now strategies listed within the parking study," Nicole said, and staff has identified four properties to start conversations about shared‑parking agreements. Public Works has already received 10 parking‑lot identifier signs that will be installed in coming weeks, and an RFP for wayfinding monument signage is due May 1.

Nicole said the city included funding for a parking management consultant in the proposed budget and, if approved July 1, staff will draft a consultant RFP soon after so selection could occur in July–August. The consultant is expected to help with employee/tenant parking recommendations, time restrictions, utilization monitoring and enforcement mechanisms—work that staff and the task force said will include business owners on the committee to inform practical solutions.

Council members urged a faster procurement timetable so the consultant could observe summer and fall events where parking patterns are most visible. Staff said three large Uptown construction projects (Bell Tower Lofts, Hoth Flats, Broad & Main) are temporarily using public parking and that a consultant will help separate construction impacts from long‑term patterns. Nicole said public outreach will include an updated printed parking map delivered in early May and social‑media outreach with QR codes partnering with Uptown businesses.

Next steps: install lot identifier signs in May, issue the wayfinding signage RFP May 1, and—if budget approval occurs July 1—issue the consultant RFP early in the new fiscal year.