Port pumps the brakes on QR code parking plan

PORT WASHINGTON - Port Washington city officials who last year seemed determined to implement a pilot program that would require paying for parking in downtown this summer have put the brakes on the program.

“There’s really no appetite for it,” Mayor Ted Neitzke said Tuesday when asked about the program. “I don’t think the council’s that excited about it. Businesses aren’t that excited about it.

“I wouldn’t say it’s dead. I would say it’s on a hard pause.”

Instead, Neitzke said, the city will probably look at enforcing its existing laws to ensure shoppers and visitors have adequate places downtown to park while shopping and enjoying the sights.

There is currently a two-hour parking limit on most downtown streets.

“We’re likely just going to lean into our Police Department to enforce our parking laws,” he said.

The city had been looking at a program that would have had people scan a QR code with their phones to pay for parking, and Neitzke noted that when a similar program was implemented at American Family Field for the Milwaukee Brewers opening day this spring “that didn’t go well.”

People found the system confusing, couldn’t access the code and traffic was backed up, Neitzke said.

That system was designed by Interstate Parking Co., the Milwaukee-based firm that conducted a parking study for the city that had officials considering a pilot pay-for-parking program.

The firm advocated for a so-called “tap ‘n explore” program that uses a QR code to direct people to open parking spaces and would allow people to pay on their phones.

The cost of the program would be more than covered through the fees that motorists pay for parking, officials said.

Interstate said this type of program could be tailored to encourage longer term parking in lots and on streets outside of high-demand areas such as the marina district and Franklin Street.

Another factor contributing to the decision is spotty cellular coverage in downtown, Neitzke noted, as well as the fact not everyone is comfortable using QR codes.

“You have to have some tech aptitude to do that,” Neitzke said. “It doesn’t work for everybody. That was demonstrated at American Family Field.”

When the pay-for-parking program was unveiled last year, the reaction was mixed. While some merchants said they were willing to try such a program to ensure customers have easy access to their shops, some residents said it is not needed.

Resident Ann Lorge reminded officials that in the 1960s and ‘70s Port was known as “parking meter Port” because it vigorously monitored its parking meters.

“Just go enforce the two-hour parking limit (that is on the books),” she said. “I was raised to shop local (but) I will not pay to park, period.”

Cedarburg, which is always busy, doesn’t need a paid parking system, Lorge added. “I just think it’s way too much fiddle faddle for something you don’t need,” she said.

The need for a paid parking program isn’t proven, Neitzke added.

Interstate surveyed people about parking, and of the 550 people who responded, most said they don’t see a parking problem downtown, Tony Janowiec, president of Interstate Parking Co., said last fall.

“When parking downtown, most residents found a spot within a block of their destination,” he said, or within a couple blocks.

Business owners said parking for patrons is a priority and complained that when employees park on the street, customers can’t find a space close to their shops. A two-hour parking limit was important to these owners, Janowiec added.

“We showed in actual data that parking is never full,” Janowiec said. “We don’t have a capacity problem here. You have a management problem.”

Business owners indicated they would support a pay-for-parking system as long as it ensured access for their customers, he said.

Marina users expressed concern about parking, he said, adding that was a concern for boaters, marina tenants and charter captains.

Officials have long said that the city has adequate parking, although it may not be exactly where some people desire to park.

“This is an issue that flairs up when we talk about development,” Neitzke said.