Businesses wary as enforcement of parking in downtown Redding about to start

With the city of Redding’s grace period for downtown parking enforcement coming to an end, some businesses are anxious about what the future holds and how it will affect their bottom line.

For three weeks, the city has warned violators, but that changes Tuesday, when actual parking tickets will be issued.

Dan Leaverton, who co-owns Vintage Public House at the corner of Market and Sacramento streets, said even during the grace period, his lunch and happy hour business took a hit.

“My initial reaction was I understood it’s (metered parking) needed, you don’t want people parking here all day” and taking spots in front of businesses, Leaverton said. “But I think paid parking is a little bit premature.”

Leaverton wishes the city would have waited until the retail/commercial space in the new Market Center building was filled and the construction of Block 7, now called California Place, was done before enforcement of metered parking started.

“Chico, Ashland (Oregon) and Bend (Oregon) all charge for parking downtown. Bend has a thriving tourism industry that we don’t have yet. Ashland and Chico have colleges downtown that we don’t have,” he said.

Other businesses voiced a similar sentiment.

Suzanne Russell owns Carousel, a women’s clothing boutique on Yuba Street next to the food truck court in Carnegie Park. Carousel has been downtown for 11 years and Russell has owned it the past seven. She has weathered the redevelopment of Carnegie Park into a seasonal food truck court, the COVID-19 pandemic and the current ongoing construction about a block east of her.

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She worries that charging people to park will dissuade some from downtown. She's been on Facebook and has read people commenting that charging for parking is another reason not to come downtown.

“It’s kind of frustrating because it feels like Redding is transitioning and trying to get people to be downtown,” Russell said. “I also understand cars need to move.”

Starting Tuesday, it will cost $1 per hour to park in any city-owned lot or metered street space between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. The cost went up from 20 cents an hour.

The city sold 175 employee parking passes for $25 a month to eligible downtown businesses for their employees.

But demand for those permits surged for the first month as the city received 350 requests, Public Works Director Chuck Aukland said.

“It’s our intent to evaluate the changing demands, utilization rates and revenues following full implementation of the program before we make any material adjustments. Once we have sufficient data, we will look to make adjustments and recommendations for (City) Council to consider,” Aukland wrote an email to the Record Searchlight.

Zach Bonnin, the city’s transportation planner, said there are up to 375 off-street metered parking spaces that could be made available for more employee permits.

Last Thursday, Bonnin was walking downtown handing out one-hour parking vouchers to businesses that they can give to customers during the first month of enforcement.  For now, the vouchers are free to businesses.

“It will take us a month or two to collect (sufficient) data and see that this is working, and this is not,” Bonnin said.

Bonnin understands the concerns of businesses, but he also has heard from businesses that see good coming from the new parking plan.

Kassandra Warner opened Apricot Lane Boutique in Market Center in December. Metered parking spaces line the streets in front of her store.

Since she opened in December, Warner says residents who live in the apartments in Market Center and other downtown visitors will park in those spaces for several hours, sometimes all day.

“Honestly, it’s the turnover. I’m excited to open spots for our customers,” Warner said.

The new parking stations that replaced street meters feature a touch screen and directions above the screen. The stations will take coins, credit cards or debit cards. Customers also can use the app “Flowbird” to pay. It identifies their location so they can pay with their smartphone.

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Robin Clinton owns a hair salon on Sacramento Street. She has been there for nearly 25 years. She has seen the evolution of downtown Redding, from taking the roof off The Mall to re-opening Market Street from Tehama to Yuba to vehicular traffic.

Both Clinton and Leaverton of Vintage believe the city could have done a better job of bringing them into the parking conversation.

"They didn't think about it. A lot of people who come downtown are retired and older. A lot of people are not technically savvy," Clinton said.

"I got people telling me I should move. I don't want to move my shop. I just believe the city went from zero to 100 (mph). They didn't ease into it."

This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Businesses wary as enforcement of parking in downtown Redding starts