Sandpoint ponders parking changes

SANDPOINT - The city is considering a major overhaul of its parking requirements in an effort to draw and maintain downtown business development.

The proposed reforms were introduced by Councilman John Reuter at a special council session last week. In his plan, Reuter calls for the elimination of parking requirements for downtown businesses and a reduction of residential requirements.

The current parking ordinance, which came into effect in 1979, requires businesses that have either changed usage or undergone significant alterations to maintain a certain amount of off-street parking spaces, depending on the size and function of the business. If adding parking space is unfeasible, businesses also have the option of paying an in-lieu fee of $10,000 per space.

While well intentioned, the city's parking rules are harmful to downtown businesses, said Sandpoint Planning Director Jeremy Grimm.

"Our code basically requires folks who are investing in our community to find some way to park cars, and the result can be very detrimental to the downtown," Grimm said. "They sometimes end up buying existing blocks or buildings to knock down and pave so they can meet the parking requirement. Or they just say the barriers to investing in downtown Sandpoint are too great and go out to the rural areas."

Based on the results of a recent parking study, Grimm believes there are enough parking spaces in Sandpoint and said it should be up to the individual business to decide if it needs additional space.

"Let the market decide. Let the bank, let Joel's, let the business decide how much parking they need," Grimm said. "We shouldn't necessarily look at some book with numbers that say which type of businesses need a certain amount of space."

Reuter also subscribes to the free market plan for parking spaces and said the city can hinder business growth when it over regulates.

"You don't need to regulate businesses to get them to do what's best for themselves," Reuter said. "That's what you're saying when you tell a business how many parking spaces they need. You're saying, ‘We, the government, know better than you how many parking spots you need to succeed.'"

The plan would also prohibit business owners from buying structures to demolish for parking spaces, which Reuter said will help maintain the integrity of downtown while halting commercial growth into residential neighborhoods.

"Parking lots that level building won't mean less buildings downtown, it just means they'll be less concentrated. Which naturally means they're going to start eating up historic neighborhoods," Reuter said.

While Reuter is happy to leave most parking decisions up to business owners, he would like to see a cap on a number of surface spaces a business can offer before requiring them to build structured parking.

Before the new rules are enacted, the city will offer residents and business owners a chance to give input at an upcoming public hearing.