Study: Partnerships, signage could improve Uptown Marion parking

MARION — Preliminary findings unveiled this week from an Uptown Marion parking study show that ample parking remains in much of the city’s central district during peak hours, suggesting the parking problems there are more a matter of perception than reality.

Still, the study offers a mix of short- and long-term strategies Marion officials may explore to ease Uptown congestion as the city core grows with new development and public improvement projects.

Those suggestions include a “Partners in Parking” program and increasing the wayfinding signage to better communicate available parking to motorists.

Marion enlisted Minnesota-based HKGi consultants to work with the Marion Chamber of Commerce to draft the parking study. The city and consultant also have held listening sessions and conducted a survey to gather input.

The parking study findings are expected to come to the Marion City Council in April or May.

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Counting spaces

Last summer, the consultant took parking counts during three peak time periods — 9 a.m., noon and 5 p.m. — on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Counts were taken for four days and during events such as the farmers market.

Overall, the only locations that were at capacity — exceeding 93 percent utilization — at any time of day were mainly the public parking spots north of Marion’s Central Plaza and at the new Marion Public Library, 1101 Sixth Ave.

Most lots, especially private ones, were underused, at no more than 75 percent of capacity. Depending on the time of day, parking utilization ranged from 44.9 percent to 69.4 percent of the 1,362 parking spots.

“This was a little bit of a fact check per se of, ‘Is it a perception problem is or is it a real problem as far as parking?’ ” said Kesha Billings, Marion’s outgoing senior planner. “Is it one of those you don't always get to park there, but yes, there's parking around there?”

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The “Partners in Parking” program would allow private businesses to share their parking lots outside of their business hours in the Uptown area.

Kevin Clarke, project planner for HKGi, said agreements could be formed between private partners and the city for extra public parking or between two private parties, like restaurants and a bank.

The study also recommends businesses look at communicating parking expectations with employees to encourage parking turnover and keep prime spots open for Uptown visitors, Billings said.

“Are they using the spot right up front? Could they be walking a block to help open up that parking?” Billings said. “There's a bunch of different strategies that you can look at to how we focus on our existing parking.”

Wayfinding signage could direct people to underused lots, Clarke said, including advertising the “Partners in Parking” spots and expanding digital parking information formats.

Parking management strategies for events also could help ease congestion and guide people to available parking or shuttle them to events.

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Long-term strategies

Potential long-term strategies the city could implement, if warranted as Uptown grows, include exploring enforced on-street parking time restrictions to encourage turnover. At this time, though, the consultant found “free parking is providing an adequate solution.”

While it’s unnecessary now, if a parking structure is needed in the future, the consultant recommends a parking/improvement district such as a Downtown Development Authority be the operator.

Marion officials have said Uptown businesses are exploring forming such a self-taxing entity, like Cedar Rapids’ and Iowa City’s Self-Supported Municipal Improvement Districts, to support projects of their choosing.

“Right now, we're still not seeing it as an insurmountable problem or anything like that,” Clarke said. “Some of those strategies would be effective and also not wildly expensive.

“There’s always questions about building more parking. … In the next five to 10 years, if there's a lot of new development, a lot of infill and (unless) those new developments and infill aren't generating their own parking, we don't see a need to do that yet.”

A parking ramp could cost $25,000 to $50,000 per parking space, Clarke said, so it makes sense to use existing parking.

“Nobody's coming down here with the first intent of parking,” Clarke said. “The parking supports people's ability to use the rest of all the things that are great about the district.”

HKGi also has created a tool for the city to use showing public and private parking by lot in Uptown that can be modified to show how parking would be affected by any potential new development, Billings said.

“That's a tool that staff will be able to use with any number of development potentials that we can look at” to see what happens when, for example, 30 residential units or a new commercial development are added, Billings said.

The tool will help staff identify “where is that tipping point of when we've added too much use.”

Comments: (319) 398-8494; marissa.payne@thegazette.com