St. Joseph City Commissioners have reaffirmed their support for paid parking downtown by holding the first reading of some ordinance revisions to allow its implementation and approving some purchase agreements to go along with the program.
At their regular meeting on Monday, commissioners heard an update on the latest recommendations from the downtown parking work group and voted to express their support. The basic plan is to charge for parking downtown, west of Main Street only, from May 15 to September 15 starting this year.
In response to resident concerns, the city communications staff’s Kayla Griffin said accommodations are planned for those who live downtown but don’t have parking at their home.
“We’re working to develop a waiver for current residents of downtown, where if you live downtown, if you live in one of the condos, if you rely on the city for parking, you shouldn’t have to pay,” Griffin said.
Griffin said another adjustment is that the effective dates of the paid parking have been changed slightly, with the paid parking starting two weeks later and ending two weeks earlier than originally planned. Also, the city will both install pay stations for the parking and allow the use of the Passport Parking app to pay. That’s the same app that can be used to park at Tiscornia Beach.
Commissioners heard from several residents, both for and against the paid parking. They included Deb Sailor of The Market, who said this is a change the city needs.
“I would like to commend this commission and this city staff for finally, for the first time in 20 years, taking on an issue that is radioactive waste,” Sailor said. “There is never ever going to be a solution that makes everyone happy. People are going to be mad, some people are going to be mad about it until they die.”
Others said this will keep some people away from the downtown.
Commissioners voted to support the proposal, to purchase ten additional pay stations — on top of the 20 they purchased in September — and to contract with Passport Parking. The first reading they held on the ordinance revisions will ensure the body can make additional changes to the parking plan in the future with a simple resolution.
It’s estimated the paid parking will cost about $98,000 to run while generating about $765,000 per year for the city.
