Angling For A Place to Park
While parking in Denver can seem confusing and frustrating, a Department of Public Works planner says the city’s Strategic Parking Plan is intended to help both residents and the city better understand how parking resources are managed.
“The Strategic Parking Plan is a framework document that explains the city’s philosophy for on and off-street parking management through decision-making and resource allocation,” says Cindy Patton, Senior Transportation Planner for DPW. “The vision directs us to manage parking as a valued public asset, make decisions based on an area or location’s specific context, and integrate participation from representative stakeholders before applying management strategies.”
The full 70-page parking plan is online at: https://www.denvergov.org/Portals/681/documents/The_Strategic_Parking_Plan_Final.pdf. Those who do not have computer access can contact the city’s 3-1-1 Communications Center for more information.
In addition to the plan itself, DPW has a separate web site at http://www.parksmartdenver.com/ aimed at providing a quick reference for motorists. There is even more detailed information on “Common Non-Posted Parking Ordinances” at http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/681/documents/2web%20site%20flyer.pdf.
And, the entire Denver Parking Code is at http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/681/
documents/parking%20enforcement%20code%20for%20website.pdf
More complex than plugging a meter
So it appears that parking can become more complex than just pulling up to the curb and following the posted sign or dropping quarters into a meter. Patton says DPW has responsibility to actively manage all curb space throughout the city.
“This space can be used for on-street parking, bicycle facilities, loading zones, and other purposes, but it is limited in its abundance,” she says. “Our team continuously works to provide additional education on parking rules and regulations through materials like the Strategic Parking Plan and direct outreach.
“We encourage stakeholders to read the document because it provides a thorough explanation of how the city is working closely with constituent groups to manage its limited parking assets in a growing, changing city.”
Because of varying locations and needs, there is no longer a “one size fits all” approach to parking allocations and rules. For example, the creation of a bicycle lane on 15th Street downtown resulted in a loss of on-street parking. Patton says there are worthy benefits to the change.
“We know that on-street inventory in high demand areas like downtown is very limited,” she says. “In the Strategic Parking Plan, we recognized that our most attainable tool is to reduce demand through various transportation options. The addition of new bicycle facilities, car sharing options, and public transportation initiatives all provide new options for users and reduce the demand for on-street parking.”
Patton also cites the replacement of parallel parking with diagonal parking on the east side of Detroit Street between Colfax and 17th Avenue as another effort to balance demand and space.
Even with city planners promoting higher density and developers constructing multi-tenant buildings with less than one space per resident, parking woes have not reached the level of eastern U.S. and many European countries. Homeowners actually buy street parking space in some locations. In London and Rome, private automobiles are prohibited in the central city. Also in Rome, it is not unusual to see cars triple parked and parked on sidewalks.
‘Pay and display’ a non-starter
As reported in a City Matters View From the Road column last July in the Greater Park Hill News, parking meters are rare in most of Britain. Many communities have a centralized municipal parking lot. Most areas rely on a “pay and display” ticket or time stamp device on the dashboard to show when the car was parked. Denver officials gave up on such a scheme in Cherry Creek North.
Patton says the DPW works closely with the Downtown Denver Partnership (DDP) and parking facility operators to demonstrate that downtown parking need not be intimidating to visitors.
“We manage roughly 3,000 on-street meters but there are more than 45,000 off-street parking spaces available for public use. Many of these spaces are covered and provide secure parking for guests,” she notes. The DDP website hosts an interactive parking guide to help visitors find public parking lots and garages. In addition, the Park Now Denver program helps drivers recognize public parking options in Downtown Denver that guarantee a reliable and consistent parking experience.”
Multi-level parking facilities, either above or below ground, are “incredibly expensive,” says Patton, and city officials are reluctant to commit funding until the need is absolutely clear and other options are not available.
As examples, she notes that Denver has built public parking garages at the Botanic Gardens, the Justice Center, and Cultural Center in recent years. She says structured parking costs about $30,000 per space and underground facilities can cost even more.
“The Strategic Parking Plan directs us to maximize existing parking inventory before adding additional supply,” she says. “Through data analysis of some of the city’s highest demand areas, we know there is a lot of capacity to be gained through better management of our existing supply.”
It all adds up to a nice chunk of change
Currently, all parking revenue feeds into the City’s general fund to support delivery of city services. Revenue from citations and mater collections is about $41 million, which represents about four percent of the city’s annual $1 billion General Fund.
“The Strategic Parking Plan is a national example of a parking-specific framework that works to both educate, provide useable tools, and reflect citywide policies and goals,” Patton says. “For example, plan recommendations have yielded several transformational projects such as the Car Share Rules and Regulations, which enabled car rental operators to enter the Denver market and provide another transportation option.”
Patton says the plan is also important because it spells out a commitment to involve stakeholder groups in the parking management decision-making process. Considering various interests and perspectives helps result in a more balanced outcome.
Patton and Parking Operations Manager Sean Mackin have been presenting the Strategic Parking Plan at community meetings throughout the city.