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City staff details Sandpoint parking rollout; 2,700 permits sold, app pending
Summary
City staff told the Planning and Zoning Commission that 44 kiosks were installed for Sandpoint's parking plan, roughly 2,700 permits have been sold and about $11,000 in early hourly revenue was recorded; staff acknowledged software glitches, a soft enforcement period and that mobile app street check-in is not yet available.
City staff told the Sandpoint Planning and Zoning Commission on July 7 that the city installed 44 parking kiosks as part of a newly implemented parking management plan and that roughly 2,700 resident and special permits have been applied for or sold in the first month.
A city staff member said the plan, adopted June 23, 2025, was implemented with vendor IPS Group of San Diego and that by July 1 the city had 31 on‑street kiosks and 13 off‑street kiosks in place, with a handful of units still awaiting delivery for boat-launch and City Beach lots. "It takes me about 12 seconds to check‑in. It's a very quick process," the staff member said of the kiosk check‑in for free two‑hour sessions.
Staff provided a permit breakdown for the first weeks of the rollout: 1,275 Bonner County resident permits, 1,180 City of Sandpoint resident permits, 165 boat‑launch permits, 45 24‑hour downtown permits and 35 marina occupant permits, for about 2,700 total. The staff member said early hourly parking revenue was about $11,000, with roughly 80% of that coming from the City Beach lot over the holiday weekend.
Staff acknowledged launch problems and a deliberate "soft rollout". On July 1 several kiosks briefly defaulted to multi‑hour paid sessions; the provider refunded customers and the error was corrected that afternoon. One kiosk at City Beach malfunctioned and was fixed the next morning. The staff member said the mobile app cannot yet be used to start a free two‑hour street session; the vendor has indicated app functionality for street check‑in is planned for Q3.
Commissioner Will Mitchell raised public‑facing usability issues, noting that "The QR code on the kiosk does not work" for general users and that many residents do not realize a resident permit still requires a kiosk check‑in in on‑street two‑hour zones. The staff member said 750 street parking spaces have no kiosks and therefore are unchanged, and reiterated that permit purchase pages and permit receipts explain the check‑in requirement.
Staff said enforcement would remain educational for the first week (warnings rather than citations) while city personnel and a community resource officer engaged the public at the beach and farmer's market; the city will move to normal enforcement afterward. Staff also said the city chose to purchase rather than lease the kiosks and expects to exceed payback within the first year of operating the program.
Next steps the staff member described include finishing kiosk delivery and updates, installing app‑related decals once the app supports street check‑ins, continuing community outreach and monitoring whether kiosks are meeting turnover goals. If kiosks do not improve turnover downtown, the staff member said the city could disable them and return to prior enforcement methods.
