Durango council directs study of options to fill 61‑space parking gap for new city hall and police campus

City staff told Durango’s council on June 2 that the proposed city hall and police department campus meets 78 on‑site spaces but falls 61 spaces short of the 139 spaces calculated under current code. Braden Demerly, project manager and owner’s representative for the campus, presented five options to close the gap: a distance‑variance to use spaces at the transit center, private leased lots within the quarter‑mile radius, an on‑site variance to allow fewer spaces, a long‑term public‑private parking structure, or converting existing city hall and police sites to parking.

Demerly summarized code calculations and design credits, noting an indoor bike‑storage credit was applied (30 indoor bike spaces equate to a 10‑space parking credit). “So here are both on the same slide… that brings us to 139, 78 of which will be on site for our designs right now. So that leaves us with a 61 space gap,” he said.

Council members pressed staff on trade‑offs and funding constraints. Several councilors said the voter‑authorized $61 million for the project can only be spent at the school/high‑school site and adjacent facilities, so off‑site parking solutions would require other funding sources. Staff noted the transit center is already city‑owned and could fill the gap with a variance application to the board of adjustments, but availability trends and convenience concerns were raised. “I don't think employees who have a meeting here and they're running to the next one… they just won't park seven blocks away, especially in bad weather,” one councilor said.

Council also discussed short‑term measures such as reallocating existing city lots for employee parking, leasing nearby private lots, and long‑term possibilities including a parking structure in partnership with the county at the Schlutoter site. Councilors expressed varying comfort with demolishing existing city buildings to create interim parking; some favored keeping those properties for future development value.

After extended discussion, council voted to direct the city manager to evaluate and pursue a set of options (transit center variance; private lease lots; possible county partnership/parking structure; conversion of city sites to parking; and existing city lots converted to employee‑only parking) and to return with recommended next steps to support timely site‑plan submission. The motion passed by roll call.