City planning staff on Oct. 21 reviewed downtown parking studies and recommended next steps including a new parking-count study in 2026 and a feasibility study for a parking garage near Central Park to support redevelopment on Tennessee Street.

Cassie Bongwerner, downtown development and preservation planning manager, told the council that the 2019 parking counts showed total public parking occupancy below 70 percent even at peak times, while on-street spaces immediately around the square often reached near 100 percent occupancy but had high turnover and brief stays.

Bongwerner reviewed three categories of the 2021 parking action plan — wayfinding, parking demand management and operations/enforcement — and listed items already implemented. Wayfinding improvements and a public parking brand followed the engineering department’s wayfinding master plan adopted in December 2022. Demand-management steps included the introduction of a trolley service to move people from downtown edges to the square and a parklet pilot program that allows businesses to expand seating into parking spaces.

On operations and enforcement Bongwerner said manual enforcement is performed by the municipal marshal’s office and that the city has tried license-plate-recognition (LPR) technology; councilors and staff reported ongoing problems with the LPR system. Assistant City Manager Trevor Minyard said the city implemented LPR in 2023–24 and has begun the first year of operational use in 2025. He said staff is preparing a warranty notice to the LPR vendor as part of contract remedies.

Councilors suggested short-term, low-cost fixes. Councilman Blake urged the city to pursue employee-permit solutions that allow downtown employees to park on the north side of the square and to improve lighting on walkways such as Johnson Street between Virginia and Louisiana to increase perceived safety for employees and customers. Several councilors proposed exploring three-hour parking on lower floors of future garages and improving outreach to downtown merchants to inform them about wayfinding and the trolley route.

Bongwerner said staff has prioritized four follow-up goals: updating parking data next steps, evaluating expanded transportation options, considering an employee parking permit program and considering paid-parking areas. She said the city will issue a new parking study in 2026 to account for changes in downtown supply as city staff relocate from downtown to a site across Highway 5.

No formal action was taken during the work session; staff said further study and public outreach will precede any ordinances or paid-parking proposals.