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tLivcr <br />Downtown Parking Study <br />Parking Guiding Principles <br />When planning for parking there is a built in conflict to which all downtown <br />stakeholders can easily relate. The conflict revolves around three primary <br />factors: Cost, Convenience and Supply. Unfortunately, usually you can have <br />only two of the three. <br />For example, parking can be inexpensive and convenient, but you won't have <br />enough. Or, you can have enough inexpensive parking, but it won't be <br />convenient. Lastly you can have enough parking conveniently located, but it <br />won't be cheap. <br />1NESPENSI~'E <br />~/\~ <br />CONVENIENT ~~ ENOUGH <br />Given this basic problem, keeping all customers satisfied is an on-going <br />challenge. As much as everyone would like to, not everyone can park at the <br />front door. Having well-defined parking principles is a good first step in <br />attempting to balance this inherent conflict. <br />A statement of operating guidelines or principles is a worthwhile effort for any <br />enterprise, but it seems especially useful for municipal parking systems. Given the <br />diverse base of customers that parking operations serve, defining operating <br />philosophies and service parameters can help keep the operation focused on <br />set goals and objectives. For parking operations that do not already have a set <br />of parking principles, taking a pro-active role in the development of these <br />principles can provide significant benefits. <br />Having an approved set of parking principles protects the city from being <br />perceived as unwilling to provide services that are clearly outside of the <br />approved parking guidelines. When faced with a new development proposal <br />which will cause the elimination of parking spaces, having a predefined and <br />approved policy to address the funding of replacement parking can help the <br />city meet operational budgets and avoid unexpected capital expenses. <br />Another advantage to having awell-defined set of parking principles is that it <br />provides city planners with a concise set of guidelines, within which they are free <br />September 2007 Carl Walker, Inc. <br />34 <br />