City wants feedback on hot-button parking issue

Parking has been a hot topic in the City of Port Washington for years, and officials are asking residents for their opinion about the issue.

Residents can take an online parking survey and attend a public feedback session intended to help officials determine whether to institute a pilot pay-for-parking program next year.

The program is seen as a way to better manage parking in downtown and address concerns people have expressed for years about the lack of parking in downtown.

“The (Common) Council and I have made driving positive changes to address the parking conditions a priority,” mayor Ted Neitzke said. “It’s important that our gem of a downtown is accessible to everyone, most importantly all Port residents.

“Citizen and stakeholder input is key to unlocking solutions.”

The city, which last year hired Insterstate Parking Co. to conduct a study of parking in downtown, agreed in July to explore a pay-for-parking program for downtown to be implemented next summer.

The Milwaukee-based firm, which sells pay-to-park systems, looked at parking in the downtown but not the marina area, with data collected primarily during business hours on weekdays and Saturdays.

Marina parking was not studied because it was off peak season, officials said.

The study found that both on-street and off-street parking were consistently beyond optimal capacity, leading to congestion and frustration for motorists, and that parking was often for extended amounts of time, leading to low turnover, officials said.

Insterstate suggested the city consider a system that includes paid parking in high-demand areas to encourage longer term parking in lots and on streets outside the high occupancy zone from Franklin Street east.

Both aldermen and business representatives were presented with the idea this summer and supported the concept.

The ultimate objective, officials said, is to alleviate on-street parking congestion and promote the use of parking lots by encouraging long-term shoppers to use off-street parking, relocating employee parking to off-street lots in areas where there’s less use and launching a shared parking program.

The parking survey at www.surveymonkey.com/r/PWDowntownParking will be open through noon Friday, Oct. 27.

The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 1, in the Port Washington High School cafeteria.