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Planning staff proposes $15,000-per-space downtown parking in-lieu fee to support garages
Summary
Planning staff proposed a downtown parking payment-in-lieu program that would let residential developers pay a $15,000 per-space fee (plus a suggested $200/year maintenance fee) instead of building on-site parking; staff estimated about 8–10 sites and roughly 400 units could opt in and that the program could generate up to $5 million if broadly used.
Planning Director Carol Sammel presented a proposal to create a downtown parking payment-in-lieu fee that would let developers in a defined downtown area waive some required on-site residential parking by paying a fixed per-space fee to the city.
Sammel said the planning department identified about 8 to 10 downtown sites totaling roughly 400 residential units that could benefit from the option. The paper exercise estimated the in-lieu program could generate about $5 million in fees if all eligible units used the option, though Sammel cautioned that outcome is "a big if."
Staff recommended a uniform fee of about $15,000 per space to provide predictability to developers and to begin capitalizing and maintaining municipal parking assets. Sammel also proposed a long-term parking maintenance fee of $200 per space per year, collected while the benefiting building stands, and explained that revenues would flow into a dedicated city parking fund to support construction, maintenance and other downtown transportation or pedestrian improvements approved by council.
Council members asked for scenario analyses, clarity on the defined geography (proposed expansion from a 500-foot default to a 1,000-foot catchment), and modeling showing how a range of development sizes would translate into funds and garage capacity. Sammel said the James Street garage expansion was one modeled outcome (an added 174 spaces) and that staff would prepare zoning text, environmental review and a public hearing before any code change.
No vote was taken; council asked staff to return with parameters, scenario costings and maps to inform formal adoption steps.
