The intersection of Park and A streets in downtown Idaho Falls | Treydon Baylor, EastIdahoNews.com
IDAHO FALLS — Downtown business owners are frustrated with the Idaho Falls Downtown Development Corporation’s (IFDDC) proposal to change the parking system.
The proposed changes to downtown’s parking were announced on Aug. 1. Free two-hour parking would become paid parking through an app-based parking meter. The changes would have been implemented in October.
The affected areas would range going west to east from Memorial Drive to Yellowstone Avenue, and as far north as D Street to just before Cliff Street.
On Friday morning, Kerry Hammon, executive director of IFDDC, issued a news release stating the corporation requested the mayor and City Council postpone a hearing scheduled the following Thursday for the proposed on-street parking rates and parking changes.
“This decision was made in response to the many concerns we have heard from downtown stakeholders like you. We believe it is crucial to pause and take additional time to engage with the business community, share more information, and facilitate more productive dialogue before moving forward,” the release states.
The corporation says it plans to work with downtown businesses and the city to find a parking solution that will best serve the downtown area. According to the release, the city has postponed the planned changes regarding parking.
The business owners and managers EastIdahoNews.com interviewed said they weren’t aware of the upcoming changes until news articles referencing them were posted in the past week.
“We were not notified at all,” said Jim Sevy, manager and son of the owner of Music Care. “With this, they just announced it. There was no input. There was no discussion, nothing.”
IFDDC made a statement on Facebook in response to the backlash, saying, “Downtown businesses have been requesting something to be done about on-street parking and the lack of availability for their customers for 10 years, as well as making other parking lot improvements. … This particular solution has been discussed at open meetings for about 2 years. The Board of Directors are comprised of downtown property owners/businesses who have been downtowners for many years.”
Lyn Pletscher, owner of Lyn’s Ladies and Babies, was surprised by the news, as she had heard rumors of a trial run years ago, only to learn it was becoming a reality in the fall.
“They (IFDDC) were talking about trying a trial and putting it on Park (Street) for a while to see how it worked,” Pletscher said. “We just found out that it is now going to be the entire downtown and even across Broadway, taking out the parking for people who work downtown on Constitution (Way), which is real confusing to me. Where are these people supposed to go?”
Business owners said they were concerned about how their customers would react to the changes, and how it could lead to the decline of downtown Idaho Falls.
Pletscher told EastIdahoNews.com many of her customers have informed her they would not be coming back if the paid parking changes came through.
“If they’re not coming back, then downtown is going to look like Armageddon. Absolutely, there’ll be plenty of parking because no one will be here,” Pletscher said.
Others had concerns specifically related to the requirement for an app and how it would affect tourists. Many of them questioned whether or not a tourist passing through town would be willing to download an app and delete it when they leave.
Meeting with business owners
On Thursday afternoon, IFDDC met with downtown business owners to address concerns related to the proposed parking changes.
The meeting was originally set to occur in the IFDDC offices. However, it was moved to the Samoa Club to accommodate the more than 20 business owners and representatives who showed up.
During the meeting, business owners again expressed frustrations related to the lack of communication they had received from IFDDC regarding the new parking system. A representative from IFDDC had said that the new system had been in discussion for the past five years.
The general attitude expressed by business owners was that they should have been included in the conversation sooner. They also talked about the possible effects of an app-based parking meter.
Cannon referenced an experience from his home state of California, where in San Diego, a similar initiative was introduced.
“We had a beautiful ocean-side pier down there, and customers just stopped going down there,” Cannon said. “They didn’t even want to pay a buck. Even with how inflated California prices are, the dollar was too much to get someone to a restaurant at the ocean-side harbor. That was a huge deterrent.”
IFDDC representatives, however, said that in all the case studies they have looked into while trying to design the new downtown Idaho Falls parking system, they haven’t encountered any situations that mirror Cannon’s example.
No conclusion was reached during the meeting, but IFDDC was willing to work with downtown business owners to solve their concerns.
A petition against the proposed parking changes has been started. As of Friday afternoon, the petition had reached nearly 1,900 signatures.
Those interested in the petition can click here.
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