City staff to move forward on parking changes, but commissioners will have final say

A line of parking meters is pictured in this file photo from May 2007.

At their meeting Tuesday, Lawrence city commissioners gave the green light for staff to move forward on a plan that calls for widespread changes to parking downtown, on the condition that the changes come back before the commission for final approval.

Commissioner Mike Amyx said he had concerns with city staff being able to carry out parts of the plan without approval from the commission. Amyx said he thinks that as is, the commission wouldn’t agree on about seven of the 30 recommendations in the plan.

“We as a commission would probably have some kind of split votes over (those recommendations), to be very honest with you,” Amyx said. “As long as we retain that right to make the decisions that happen, I think it’s fine.”

The consultant-led parking plan includes 30 recommendations in two phases. Recommendations include residential parking permits, increasing fees and fines, a boot and tow policy, and modern upgrades such as parking kiosks that allow for electronic payments. More minor recommendations included restriping of parking lots and changes to the time limits on some meters.

Although any large purchases or ordinance changes are required to come before the commission, city staff did note that some of the minor changes could potentially have been implemented administratively. In lieu of that approach, however, commissioners unanimously approved moving forward on the plan, but with the caveat that all the recommendations will come back to the commission for a vote before being implemented.

City Manager Tom Markus said the recommendations provided by the consultants are typical for cities with successful parking systems. He said though the recommendations are all interconnected, there is flexibility with the details of the plan. He said the city’s parking management needed to be modernized.

“I think what you do have here is a very disconnected, noncontemporary approach to the parking issues that face not just your downtown but the surrounding neighborhoods,” Markus said.

Another of the notable recommendations is to make the city’s parking fund an enterprise fund, meaning the goal would be for the fund’s revenues to cover its expenses. As laid out in the plan, fees, fines and hours of enforcement would increase. Commissioners indicated they were in favor of modernizing the parking system and making the parking fund an enterprise fund.

“What is the point of giving tickets if it’s costing us money to give tickets?” Commissioner Matthew Herbert said.

However, commissioners expressed concern that some of the recommendations in the plan were too punitive. Specifically, Herbert, Amyx and Vice Mayor Stuart Boley said they were concerned about a recommendation that would have fines and penalties — including towing — apply after only three tickets.

“What scares me about this is that mixed into this whole moving us into the 21st century, moving us into an enterprise fund, are these sporadically placed, incredibly heavy-handed recommendations,” Herbert said.

The commission’s approval of the plan does not bind the city to enact the recommendations. The plan is broken into two phases, and McGuire said the goal would be to implement the recommendations over the next five to 10 years.


In other business, the commission:

• Voted unanimously to approve a resolution governing the rules of City Commission meetings. The resolution includes a three-minute time limit for public comment, which can be measured by a timer. The resolution states that requests for additional time may be granted at the discretion of the presiding officer.

• Voted unanimously to defer a decision regarding VanTrust Real Estate’s application to the city’s Catalyst incentive program. As part of the program, the real estate company is seeking city tax abatements, free land and industrial revenue bonds to construct up to $31 million of speculative industrial buildings at Lawrence VenturePark. The commission delayed the decision in order to have more time to review the land transfer and development agreement. The commission will vote Aug. 1 whether to approve the incentives.