Ridgefield council to consider new downtown parking plan as off-street lot closes

Visitors to downtown Ridgefield are advised to prepare as off-street parking in the downtown is becoming more limited.

To combat reduced off-street parking, the Ridgefield City Council may implement new downtown parking regulations to improve accessibility, however, especially as a previous parking location, the Park Laundry site, is now closed to be treated for chemicals. Once complete, that site will become a property for developers.
Downtown parking plan

To address the shortage of downtown parking, the City of Ridgefield will review and decide whether or not to recode downtown parking in the future.

In a June 13 meeting, the City Council reviewed amendments to downtown Ridgefield’s parking code suggested by Public Works Director Chuck Green. The downtown area’s lack of parking is problematic, he said.

“It’s probably no surprise that parking availability and Pioneer [Street] and Main [Avenue] in the downtown core continues to be an issue, as well as the lack of accessible parking along those streets,” he said.

Of the major changes presented, the City Council will review:

• Removing current no-parking signs on Pioneer Street, Main Avenue and North Third Avenue. This would remove the no-parking zone in front of the Ridgefield Administrative & Civic Center (RACC) on Pioneer Street.

• Assigning a two-hour parking limit on spaces on Main Avenue, Pioneer Street and North Fifth Avenue to improve parking availability. Parking would be limited to two hours, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, to limit all-day use of crucial parking spaces.

• Establishing loading zones by restricting parking in front of businesses on Main Avenue and Pioneer Street during morning hours.

• Updating Ridgefield’s code to restrict parking in front of mailboxes.

• Providing shuttles for large downtown events, depending on expected traffic impacts.

• Placing signs for current public parking areas at Davis Park and on Railroad Avenue.

Additionally, the council may decide to convert North Fourth Avenue to a one-way street from Pioneer to Simmons streets. The council directed city staff to draft an ordinance that includes removing mailboxes on Pioneer Street and Main Avenue, which causes congestion on downtown’s busiest roads during mail deliveries. Letters would be sent to collective neighborhood mailboxes if approved.

Park Laundry Site shutdown

The future downtown parking review will take place after last week’s shutdown of the Park Laundry Site, one of three off-road parking lots, City Manager Steve Stuart said. The City of Ridgefield gated the site at the corner of Simmons Street and Main Avenue to treat hazardous chemicals, which will take place until 2025. Afterward, it will be used for development.

“This cleanup is a necessary step to help our downtown thrive. Without the cleanup, those sites won’t redevelop. Without the partnership between the City, state Department of Ecology,and property owners, the cleanup won’t occur. It has been a priority of our downtown businesses and council for 20-plus years and is finally becoming a reality. How that site redevelops will be a community collaboration with city partners, residents, businesses and leadership,” Stuart said.

Contractors will excavate 15 feet of the site’s soil for disposal and refilling. Chemicals within the site will be treated through groundwater remediation during the process.

According to a press release by the city, the site once used for temporary parking will be put to beneficial development for the downtown area’s revitalization. The city owns the site and may sell it to developers in the future.

“Only after it’s cleaned up by the city with the assistance of the Department of Ecology and working with a professional contractor to manage the project, only then will it be ready, available and ethical for future development or something that really enhances our downtown,” Stuart said in a previous report.

To minimize the impacts on off-street public parking, the city recommends residents use the two other public parking lots in its downtown district:

• Davis Park’s parking lot, on the corner of North Third Avenue and Mill Street.

• Mill Street and Railroad Avenue, a grass parking zone adjacent to the railroad fence.

In addition, the City Council has approved the purchase of a 6,000-square-foot plot of land located at the corner of North Main Avenue and Mill Street for $185,000. This parcel, across the street from the public library, will be used for temporary public parking in the future. The timeline for when the parking area will be available for public use has not yet been determined.

As well, the old Ridgefield Police Department location, which was demolished last week, will be used as a temporary public parking lot in early 2025 once the cleanup concludes. The building and the adjacent jailhouse, located on 116 N. Main Ave., were removed to make room for equipment used for the Park Laundry site cleanup. The city will store pieces of the old site for potential historic use.

“The City has removed several elements of the old jail, such as cell doors, to be reserved for future use in a museum or historical interpretive center to commemorate the jail,” a news release from the city stated.

The City Council may decide to sell the future parking lot for development depending on Ridgefield’s parking and infrastructure needs.

Police Chief Cathy Doriot fondly recalled the old building but said the new Main Street facility, which they moved into last July, better suits RPD’s growing team.

“There’s a little piece of me that’s a little sad, but yet [I’m] not because we had outgrown that facility. As far as the police department, I think that we are very excited to be in our new location,” Doriot said.