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Downtown parking study finds underused garages, recommends wayfinding and targeted enforcement
Summary
A consultant told council on data from drone imagery, license‑plate readers and surveys that downtown on‑street spaces are heavily used while many off‑street garages are underutilized; recommendations include better wayfinding, targeted enforcement for overtime parking, and coordinated shared‑parking agreements.
A consultant presented a comprehensive downtown parking study that combined intercept surveys, online questionnaires, drone imagery and license‑plate‑reader data to analyze parking use and turnover in Castle Rock’s downtown.
"On-street capacity has really increased a lot since the last parking study," the consultant said, summarizing that many on‑street blocks have high occupancy and low turnover while nearby off‑street garages retain unused capacity (for example, the Encore garage showed typical utilization in the 40–50% range). The study found many vehicles stayed longer than the posted two‑hour limits in some locations, limiting turnover for short‑term customers, and suggested prioritizing existing supply optimization — wayfinding, signage, employer use of long‑term lots, and targeted enforcement — before adding new parking structures. Public commenters urged increased ADA parking availability; resident Susan McAfee said downtown events often leave no accessible parking and recommended reserving or improving ADA capacity.
Staff said next steps include wayfinding implementation, education for downtown businesses and merchants, targeted outreach on employee parking, and exploring enforcement or fines for habitual overtime violators only if merchants request that tool. Councilmembers emphasized balancing enforcement with support for small businesses and asked staff to monitor study recommendations over the summer and report back.
