A Cronkite News Service Weekend Special

Businesses, residents debate need for parking meters in downtown Flagstaff

NOTE: CORRECTS spelling of mayor’s name to Presler sted Pressler. This story moved Thursday, Sept. 11. We recommend it for weekend use.

With BC-CNS-Flagstaff Parking-Box

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By MARIA KONOPKEN
Cronkite News Service

FLAGSTAFF _ Mark Lamberson sees many of the same cars parked each day in front of Mountain Sports Downtown, one of two businesses he runs amid the storefronts and narrow streets of this city’s historic business district.

The problem for Lamberson: A lot of those cars belong to employees from other downtown businesses, not to customers. The city limits most street parking in the area to two hours, but Lamberson said it’s easy for workers to avoid tickets by moving their cars.

Lamberson said downtown businesses, most of which are small and independently owned, are popular with residents and travelers. But that popularity, he said, has created a parking crunch that hurts the ability of his and other businesses to attract more customers.

“In a sense, downtown has become a victim of our own success,” Lamberson said.

Like many others around downtown, Lamberson’s business has no parking lot. With street parking difficult to come by, his customers often have to park a few blocks away. That’s no small inconvenience when it’s snowing, he said.

Charlotte Welch lives in a neighborhood just outside the business district, and she’s sick of downtown shoppers and employees parking on her street. She said her neighborhood and others have cars bumper to bumper and blocking or even pulling into driveways. Some of her neighbors have given up, moving elsewhere and renting their homes, she said.

“When cars are crowding streets and not letting residents be able to navigate and commute, it hurts our neighborhood,” Welch said.

Trying to ease the crunch, Flagstaff earlier this year approved a Downtown Management Plan that includes adding parking meters and kiosks to downtown. Lamberson welcomes the idea, but Welch worries that people avoiding meters will still spill into her neighborhood.

Since the plan was approved in February, Flagstaff has elected three new City Council members and Mayor Sara Presler, who opposes the meters. Faced with concerns from some business owners and area residents, the plan is now on hold until October while a consultant studies downtown’s parking and traffic needs.

“There are great benefits from parking meters, but there are other solutions without having to do parking meters,” Presler said.

The study includes analyzing traffic patterns, where people park and how long people park.

If those conducting the study pass Incahoots, a vintage clothing store owned by Nancy Wardell, they will see a sign in the window saying, “No Parking Meters Downtown.” Wardell said charging people who are used to parking for free will discourage them from coming downtown.

“You want to shop, eat and be downtown,” Wardell said. “It should be a good experience, not a difficult one.”

Ruth Ann Border, owner of Visible Difference Art and Drafting Supply, has urged the city to put the plan on hold. Noting that downtown has had meters twice before, she said officials should look at options such as parking lots, a parking structure and better enforcement of the current parking rules.

“Flagstaff has yet to address fully the impact that the lack of parking has on the business community,” Border said.

Rick Swanson, a city council member who voted against the Downtown Management Plan, which passed 5-2, said any plan for downtown needs to include a parking garage.

“For a long time, 20 years or so, downtown has been kind of held back by not having enough available parking, and I don’t see parking meters as getting us any quicker to that parking garage solution,” Swanson said.

Vice Mayor Al White, who voted for the plan, said the meters would provide revenue to provide other benefits the plan includes, such as an employee parking lot, cleaning and maintaining streets and building and better managing events held downtown. He thinks the city will wind up putting the meters and parking kiosks downtown.

“I think reasonable people in a room together will make reasonable decisions when presented with reasonable ideas,” White said.

Presler said that she’d support meters if the study determines that they are needed. But she thinks other aspects of the plan are enough.

“I think it will promote the downtown area, boost business, allow more tourism and help the city out,” Presler said.

Welch said the new council seems more inclined to listen to concerns from her and other area residents. She said they want the city to consider making street parking in neighborhoods by permit only and look at alternatives to parking meters.

“Our neighborhoods are already crowded without the parking meters,” Welch said. “If the city puts just the parking meters in without alternatives like parking garages, parking lots or shuttles, they are masking the problem, not finding a solution.”

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PHOTOS:
Click thumbnails to see full-resolution images and download; caption information is in the file under File>File Info.

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-FLAGSTAFF PARKING: Mark Lamberson is shown in Mountain Sports Downtown, the business he runs in Flagstaff’s historic downtown. Lamberson wants the city to install parking meters to deal with a dearth of street parking downtown, which he says hurts his business. Without meters, he says, employees of other downtown business use street parking, which often forces his customers to park a few blocks away. The City Council has proposed a plan that includes putting meters downtown, but officials have decided to study the issue further after meeting opposition from area residents and some business owners. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Maria Konopken)

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-FLAGSTAFF PARKING: Flagstaff’s historic downtown business district features narrow streets and a dearth of street parking. The city has proposed installing parking meters to turn over parking spaces, a move welcomed by some businesses, but opposition from those living nearby has prompted the City Council to take another look at the plan. Neighbors say meters would cause even more people to park in front of their homes. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Maria Konopken)

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-FLAGSTAFF PARKING: Cars line a street in front of homes near Flagstaff’s historic downtown business district, which features narrow streets and a dearth of street parking. The city has proposed installing parking meters to turn over parking spaces, a move welcomed by some businesses, but opposition from those living nearby has prompted the City Council to take another look at the plan. Neighbors say meters would cause even more people to park in front of their homes. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Maria Konopken)

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-FLAGSTAFF PARKING: A sign registers a Flagstaff business’ opposition to a plan to put parking meters along the narrow streets of the city’s historic downtown. The city has proposed installing parking meters to turn over parking spaces, which are in heavy demand. Some businesses welcome the idea, but opposition from those living nearby has prompted the City Council to take another look at the plan. Neighbors say meters would cause even more people to park in front of their homes. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Maria Konopken)

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-FLAGSTAFF PARKING: A sign warns drivers that street parking in Flagstaff’s historic business district is limited to two hours. But some business owners complain the the rule isn’t enforced adequately and is easy for drivers to beat. The city has proposed installing parking meters downtown, but the City Council is taking another look at that plan because those living near the business district say meters will cause even more people to park in their neighborhood. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Maria Konopken)