Parking prices to increase
Changes approved for programs; shortterm garage slots will remain free
Boulder is raising prices for its neighborhood parking permit program, marking one of the few updates to the program since its inception nearly two decades ago.
Furthermore, it’s increasing the cost of on-street parking and implementing free shortterm parking in garages and once a day within Boulder’s onstreet parking.
Boulder City Council on Tuesday unanimously agreed to the changes after holding a public hearing with no speakers and very little City Council discussion. The council previously expressed support and provided feedback in study sessions held in June and January.
The general goal of the project, which has been ongoing for about a year, is to rework the neighborhood parking permit program as well as the pricing approach for the city’s on- and off-street parking to meet Boulder’s goals related to parking and access management, according to Deputy Director of Community Vitality Cris Jones.
The neighborhood parking
permit program includes three tiers: resident, business and commuter. It is meant to manage spillover parking from high-demand areas, and it covers 13 “zones” in Boulder, including Mapleton, University Hill and Whittier.
Currently, resident permits cost $17 a year; business permits cost $75 a year; and commuter permits cost $100 a quarter
ith council’s approval Tuesday, the resident and commuter permit rates will increase by $13 and $20, respectively, in 2022. Following that, the permits will increase by $10 and $20, respectively, every year until 2024. Business permits will remain the same.
The increased prices are meant to help with cost recovery, given that permit costs have not changed since 1994 and cover less than 50% of what it costs to operate the program, according to staff.
Boulder will maintain its pause on new neighborhood parking permit zone requests in the upcoming year as it collects information on parking supply, occupancy, trip generation and access in residential zones, according to information presented Tuesday.
Further, it’s working to establish eligibility and priority for new neighborhood management zones and/or the possible phasing out of ineligible zones, staff shared in the meeting.
The base on-street rate for parking will increase from $1.25 to $1.50 an hour. Jones noted this change was included in the budgeting process so no additional work is necessary to ensure the change can happen at the first of the year.
The new, free, 15-minute short-term parking, which is allowed once a day on the street and any time in cityowned parking garages, is intended for “folks who need to pop downtown or to one of our managed districts for a quick errand,” Jones said.
Changes approved by the City Council on Tuesday also will instate graduated fines for parking violations as well as mobility safety fines, which establish higher fines for violations that impede mobility safety such as blocking a bike lane.
In its study session in June, some questions were raised about whether the changes are aggressive enough to meet the city’s climate goals, which strive to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years.
A representative from the city’s Transportation Advisory Board at that time said increasing the cost of parking permits by far more than what council agreed to would encourage people to change their behavior and seek out modes of transportation other than single-occupant vehicles.
Additionally, some City Council members expressed concerns about a proposal to begin charging for parking in cityowned garages over the weekends. Several worried it would dissuade customers and impact nesses.
Based on that feedback, next year Boulder will continue offering free parking in its city-owned garages. However, Jones noted that staff intends to do additional analysis to determine whether weekend pricing is feasible.
Councilmember Bob Yates, one of those who pushed for free garage parking, expressed gratitude to staff for adjusting its plan.
“For now, it is going to remain free,” Yates said. “And that is important for our downtown businesses as they recover from the pandemic.”
The various changes have been discussed for years. Councilmember Aaron Brockett said he remembers first hearing about this nearly a decade ago when he served on Boulder’s Planning Board.
“(The changes are) common sense,” Brockett said. “They’re moving us in the right direction.”
Moving forward, staff said it will work on education so people are aware of changes that are coming. local busi