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ALPENA -- The Alpena Downtown Development Authority is expected to present a paid parking plan for downtown Alpena to the Alpena Municipal Council in the fall.
Alpena had paid parking until the 1970s, and, for many years, the DDA and the city have considered installing parking meters in high-demand parking areas downtown to prevent people from occupying premium spaces for long periods of time.
The issue of charging people to park in high-demand places has risen several times over the last handful of years, each time with some pushback from residents and business owners.
At its meeting Monday, the Municipal Council voted to have city attorney Bill Pfeifer amend the parking ordinance to include updated fines for people who violate parking time limits. That move could help open up some of the business-front parking spots, but a longer-term plan is still needed, some on the council believe.
Mayor Pro Tempore Cindy Johnson said the DDA Parking Committee has been developing a plan and reviewing costs for paid parking downtown. The DDA has also received cost estimates from vendors.
She said the project should come before the council in the fall -- but, even if the council approves paid parking, it would take a year to a year-and-a-half before the needed infrastructure is installed and the system is implemented.
"The committee is deep into the discussion right now," she said. "We hear it from businesses time and time again, that their customers have nowhere to park, and we need to do something."
QUESTIONS STILL
Anne Gentry, DDA executive director, said premium parking areas, including curbside stalls and parking lots near downtown could be metered. Other parking areas a short walk from the heart of downtown would still include free two-hour and three-hour parking.
Still other areas could have free long-term parking, such as the parking lot behind City Hall.
"The areas we are considering metering are only those with the highest use that have the highest demand." she said. "That is only about 280 spaces out of about 1,000 parking spaces we have currently within our district. The meters will really be in the core of downtown, where the density of businesses are."
Gentry said one of the vendors that submitted pricing information installs meters that monitor multiple parking stalls, like those in Traverse City and Petoskey.
More investigation is needed into what type of paid-parking system will fit the area best, Gentry said. That could be a combination of multiple-unit parking and single-space stalls.
Gentry said one parking meter that attends multiple parking spaces can cost between $10,000 and $12,000. At least 15 of the units would be needed to collect money for all of the parking spaces that could be pay-for-use.
She said that cost may not include needed software or the cost of hiring someone to attend to the machines.
"We have some needed questions that we still need to get answered until we propose a more formal proposal," she said.
Councilman Mike Nowak, who works downtown and walks to and from his vehicle daily from where he parks it near City Hall, said he sees daily the parking issues downtown. He indicated that he could support paid parking downtown.
Nowak said there has been significant growth downtown and more is on the horizon. He said to prepare for more traffic and motorists downtown in the coming years, executing a new parking plan soon is important.
"I know everyone on council has been downtown in the evening and seen it is packed down there," Nowak said. "I think this is an important step, and I think it is a step that is necessary that will maybe lead to a parking structure that will be needed. We're packed downtown, and we're planning on a lot of improvements, upgrades, and continued growth downtown. We could easily add another 500 spaces and fill those, in my opinion, from what I've seen over the last nine years."
NEW PARKING FINES
If given final approval by the council, the new parking fines would escalate for repeat violators who park in a time-limited spot longer than they are allowed. Once they reach the most costly fine, they will remain at that penalty amount for each following ticket.
The increased fines are needed, Gentry said, because many employees who work downtown park all day in one spot and pay the small $10 fine.
The first overtime parking offense would remain $10 and rise to $20 if unpaid for 10 days. A second offense would be $25 and climb to $50 if unpaid within 20 days. A third or subsequent overtime parking offense would be $50 and escalate to $100 if not paid within 40 days.
After Pfeifer updates the current parking ordinance, he will present the first reading of it to the council, and then a second reading at another meeting. After the second reading, the council is expected to vote on the adoption of the updated ordinance.