Romeo trustees suspend enforcement of paid‑parking pilot after months of community opposition

The Village of Romeo Board of Trustees voted April 21 to suspend enforcement of the pilot paid‑parking program in the downtown DDA district and to remove signage effective immediately, saying the issue requires further review after intense public comment and additional fact‑finding.

The suspension motion, made by Trustee Care and supported by Trustee Parker, passed on a roll call after more than an hour of testimony from business owners, seniors and a DDA representative. ‘‘This program is not working for our seniors or many small businesses,’’ said Sharon Smith, a downtown resident, during public comment. ‘‘They can’t use the app and they’re afraid of tickets.’’

Trustee Parker had presented PlacerAI/SEMCOG foot‑traffic and visit‑frequency data for comparable timeframes and argued the system was intended to create customer turnover and fund parking‑lot upkeep. The DDA and its contractor provided the analytics showing year‑over‑year increases in total visits and visitors, and a March parking revenue figure of roughly $1,100. DDA and business speakers said that, while analytics show some uptick in visits, the program’s roll‑out, pricing and customer experience were undermining downtown commerce and community trust.

Village attorney Mark Clark cautioned trustees the village is not a party to the ParkMobile agreement signed by the DDA and that terminating the service contract could have contractual consequences for the DDA. ‘‘You can choose not to enforce the ordinance,’’ Clark said, ‘‘but you can’t directly terminate the private contract between the DDA and the vendor; disentanglement can be messy and may impose costs on whoever is the contracting party.’’

Supporters of the suspension said enforcement duties were placing an unfair operational burden on the Romeo Police Department and that many older residents and volunteers lacked smartphones or could not use the app. Business owners and the Starkweather Art Center described customers avoiding downtown during paid‑parking hours. DDA members and some trustees, by contrast, emphasized the original intent to use pilot revenue for capital maintenance and sidewalks and noted relatively modest monthly revenue to date.

The board’s motion instructs staff to remove signage and pause enforcement ‘‘until further review’’ and to work with the DDA on contractual and operational next steps. The council did not set a final deadline for the review, and the DDA said it will need to reconcile the ParkMobile agreement terms with any village direction. The board also agreed to refund or address resident passes and to examine alternative enforcement or parking‑management options.

Next steps: the village manager and DDA staff will confer on how to wind down or pause enforcement operationally, produce a written plan for public review and return to the board with options on funding and maintaining parking infrastructure. No formal ordinance change was enacted at the meeting; suspension was an enforcement decision by the trustees.