How could Wichita change unpopular paid parking plan? City staff report offers hints

Wichita city staff is looking at options after a plan to charge for public parking at all 6,800 spots downtown sparked outrage from residents and business owners.

The City Council isn’t expected to take any binding action when it meets Tuesday. And formal staff recommendations will be presented in 30 to 60 days. But a staff report for Tuesday’s meeting teases several potential changes aimed at making the plan more palatable to downtown commuters.

• Installation of meters with one hour of free parking and $.75/hour for remaining time (the original plan states that all meter rates should be between $.75 and $2 per hour)

• Discounted daily rates for downtown employees

• Sponsorships of on street parking spaces (likely by businesses)

• Availability of discounted parking passes (daily, monthly)

• Continuation of existing parking agreements, with rate adjustments to meet operating and maintenance needs (this could preserve free parking in Old Town, where businesses pay an annual maintenance fee for upkeep on their storefront parking stalls)

• Funding of ongoing maintenance and operating costs by users (pay to park) and capital improvement projects through property tax revenue

“Over the last 15 years, Wichita has continued to try and balance the costs associated with operations and maintenance and effective parking management. Unfortunately, the City has struggled to achieve that balance,” the report states.

According to the city, the industry standard for parking systems is to invest $500-$600 per space annually. Their data shows Wichita’s downtown parking system generated $218 per space in 2023.

The city estimates that its parking garages are facing $8,334,275 in deferred maintenance needs.

“That doesn’t include maintenance issues that have presented themselves since that evaluation and does not include maintenance issues in our parking lots or on-street,” the report states.

The city heard feedback on the parking plan at nearly a dozen public meetings in August.

According to the staff report, major themes from those meetings were that paid parking could discourage downtown retail activity, that the existing system of low meter rates and next to no enforcement is working, that businesses can’t afford to pay for parking, that downtown employees would be penalized by the switch, and that maintenance and security for the parking system “needs to be enhanced but not solely through increased rates.”

Last month, the council voted to indefinitely delay the purchase of new meters and other parking enforcement equipment in response to the overwhelmingly negative public reception to the plan.

Officials now say any major overhaul of the downtown parking system will not be in place by Jan. 1, 2025, the date previously set by staff for implementation of paid parking.

Free public parking? You’ll see a lot fewer spots in downtown Wichita next year