Free two-hour parking at S. Kansas Avenue meters downtown to resume for at least four months

In a move that may cost it tens of thousands of dollars in revenue, Topeka's city government will at least temporarily reinstate free two-hour parking along four blocks of S. Kansas Avenue in downtown.

Topeka's mayor and city council arranged that late Tuesday by approving a proposal rescinding the measure they adopted Oct. 12 calling for the city to resume charging parking fees at meters in those blocks, which had been covered using bags.

Councilman Neil Dobler, who sponsored the measure adopted Tuesday, stressed that the Oct. 12 vote came at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic appeared to be waning.

Now it's clear that isn't the case, reinstating the free two-hour parking makes sense, he said.

Dobler said he thought the change should only be temporarily, adding that he planned to arrange for the mayor and council to revisit the issues involved May 17.

Topeka staff asked for updated parking plan

Dobler also asked the city staff to provide him an update of the city's parking plan, which was created in 2017, and by May 10 to make a presentation to the mayor and council regarding an updated parking plan that would include potentially seeking bids to dispose of one or more of the city's parking garages.

The meters affected by Tuesday's vote bring in revenue totaling about $100,000, according to a document that was part of the agenda packet for that evening's meeting.

The city since 2017 had bagged those meters to allow free parking in the four blocks involved in an effort to encourage people to come to downtown Topeka.

But the city's public works department asked last fall that the city remove the bags and resume charging at those meters.

It stressed that city parking revenues had been declining significantly since March 2020 and that the city was expecting to see a budget deficit for 2022.

More: Get ready to feed the meter. Side street parking in downtown Topeka will no longer be free

Topeka had gone back to metered parking in October

The mayor and council voted 7-2 on Oct. 12 to approve that request, with Councilmen Mike Lesser and Spencer Duncan dissenting.

The mayor and council then voted 8-2 Tuesday to approve Dobler's proposal to rescind that measure, with Councilwomen Karen Hiller and Christina Valdivia-Alcala dissenting.

Hiller, who represents a council district that includes downtown Topeka, expressed concern that more hadn't been done prior to Wednesday's meeting to seek input potential stakeholders.

"This has happened without even consultation with staff, yet, and I'm not comfortable with that," she said.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Free two-hour parking temporarily reinstated at some downtown meters