HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-04-22 Public Comment - E. Sutherland - Paid Parking Work SessionFrom:eric 360commercialmanagement.com
To:Agenda
Cc:Ellie Staley; Emily
Subject:PAID PARKING Work Session
Date:Tuesday, October 4, 2022 2:46:44 PM
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Hello Commissioners,
I wanted to take a moment to reach out and express my thoughts surrounding the proposed paid
parking program that has been put up for discussion.
I am a downtown building owner (40 E Main, 20 E Main & 27 E Main Units D&E), and have been an
active participant on the city’s BID board for several years.
I do appreciate the city put together several public forums to elicit feedback from downtown
stakeholders. I attended one of the sessions and saw the diverse positions people took on the
subject, and how the discussions were able to share those various positions and seek common
solutions.
It is frustrating that the timelines for input and response to the proposals are so short and poorly
communicated. In the future I would hope the city staff will disseminate proposals like this to
boards and constituents with more time for us to ask questions and provide feedback.
The current proposal has numerous shortcomings that cause me to be against wanting this proposal
to be approved in Its current configuration.
The lack of solid, actionable parking solutions for downtown employees will be a HUGE
problem for downtown businesses and their employees. A paid parking program that does
not address this very real issue, should not be approved.
The proposal seems to intend to implement paid parking, in the hopes of funding a 2nd
parking garage w/o the guaranteed outcome of the 2nd garage. I fear the repercussion of
implementing a paid parking program without first figuring out funding a 2nd parking garage
could be damaging for our downtown. A 2nd parking garage needs to be set in stone, prior to
implementing paid parking.
Additionally, the funds collected from downtown parking need to stay downtown. I have not
seen anything in the proposal that mandates those funds remain separate from the general
fund and stay downtown. The burden of paid parking will be borne by the downtown
businesses, and the revenue should be reinvested solely in downtown.
Please ask that the proposal be further refined, and solutions to the above shortcomings be made
part of any new paid parking proposal moving forward.
Thank you for your consideration.
Regards,
Eric Sutherland
Downtown Property Owner
BID Board Member
7085 Bristol Lane, Bozeman, MT