With its year-old parking study in hand, Delray Beach is reaching out for public discussion on how to operate and pay for parking in the city.
The commission agreed public input was in order after parking management specialist Scott Aaronson asked for guidance on what organization will operate the city’s parking and how revenues will be raised.
“The merchants know so much more about this plan than we do. Let them educate us,” said Mayor Woodie McDuffie. “In this city that’s what we’ve done. Any time we do something that could have an impact of this magnitude, it’s only fair to include all stakeholders.”
The biggest stakeholders are the merchants, Commissioner Tom Carney said. “I encourage merchants to have serious discussion so we come up with something that will benefit us all.”
The preferred organization for parking would be a Consolidated City Department Model, which would pull parking functions from various parts of Public Works and combine them into one, Aronson said in a memo to commissioners. The Parking Division would oversee an Enterprise Fund, collecting all parking revenue.
Among recommendations by the Parking Management Study done by national consultant Kimley-Horn is a fee-based parking system in the downtown core that would use multi-space meters to collect revenues estimated at $1.2 million, according to the memo.
Merchants, however, fear that paid parking will drive away patrons and have recommended a parking district that would impose a district tax rather than the fee-based system, according to Aronson.
“It’s an emotional issue. It’s a change,” said merchant Bruce Gimmy of The Trouser Shop, who is pro metered parking.
In other cities, he said, “this has been done very successfully.” Paid parking can offer incentives to shoppers — such as the first hour of parking free, or merchants can give them free parking tokens when they come into their stores.
At the same time, the fees can help move employee parking from Atlantic Avenue opening spaces for spenders. “You have to have parking turnover,” said Gimmy, who is a member of the parking Management Advisory Board.
Under the fee system, the most convenient parking spaces would have the highest rates and the shortest parking times, Aronson’s memo says. That system also helps in moving employees to the less convenient spots during prime time and leaving valued spaces available for customers.
“While free parking is an admirable goal, convenience is an important factor that must not be overlooked,” the memo said.
During the commissioners’ October workshop meeting, Aaronson gave a progress report on the parking study, noting projects completed included improving shuttle route maps, route identification and marketing; modifying routes to improve connectivity with Palm Tran and Tri-Rail; and reviewing rates for beach parking permits.
“A lot of money was spent producing this parking study,” Carney added. “We’re picking at it in bits and pieces. We really need to address this. ”
City Manager David Harden noted that public discussion could be as fruitful on parking as it was on the beach master plan. “There’s a lot of little subprograms that come out of those things. ”
Harden suggested inviting the public to gather on a Saturday to “see what kind of feedback we get. We all know the problem, but there’s no easy, push-button solution.”
The city manager later estimated that two sessions will probably be held within about a month to accommodate the scedules of merchants and restaurateurs. Ú
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