Whether residents and local business owners like it or not, paid parking is coming to downtown Ogden.
By the middle of next year, the city plans to roll out a system to charge for parking, beginning with 25th Street and Kiesel Avenue. The proceeds will help fund other parking, including a new parking garage. While the city works out the details, at least one business owner has had enough.
“I think it’s going to tank my business,” said Shamra Ward. Her healthy drink shop, Serendipity, is downtown. She feels that the city hasn’t considered the consequences for small businesses like hers.
She said she’s spoken with customers who are upset about paying for parking and “plan on avoiding 25th Street altogether.”
As a result, Ward decided not to renew her lease, which is up at the end of October. She’s planning to pivot to a pick-up-only model.
Ward feels unappreciated, noting that she can’t afford to pay for her own parking or lose customers over it. “We’re the reason that people come down here. Our small businesses [are] what make the street so eclectic,” she said.
David Sawyer, deputy director of community and economic development for Ogden City, said they are responding to growth. He added that new residential and retail developments will bring more people to the area and “aggravate the current parking challenges that we have downtown.”
On a recent walk down 25th Street, he saw three open spaces in three blocks.
“It was pretty full,” he said. With the plan to charge for parking, he imagines drivers will spread out to other streets and free up some of the highest-demand spots.
Sawyer said the decision to charge for parking is final, but for the first few months, parking will be free as long as drivers use the city’s yet-to-be-determined parking payment app. The Junction Garage on the corner of 23rd Street and Kiesel Avenue will get the same parking management system the city implements elsewhere, Sawyer said, but there are no immediate plans to charge for parking there.
Resident Jake Pruett hopes these changes will encourage downtown visitors to drive less.
“If they're paying a minimum inconvenience, they might think about taking the free bus that we have downtown, walking a little bit more, which then gets them invested in better walkability for this city.”
He considers the expectation of free parking to be entitlement. “We don't even have a bike path on 25th Street, but people will think they should be able to just park their car and stash it there as long as they want to,” he said.
The city’s parking plan FAQ states that “New pedestrian paths are also planned to enhance access to parking north of 25th Street.”
Ward said running her business for the last four years has been hard, and it’s “ridiculous” that “the parking is what's going to be able to take me out.”
“I'm laughing about it now because I'm pretty much just cried out. But it's dumb. I don't feel like I'm valued,” she said.
Meanwhile, Sawyer said other business owners are excited. “They don't see the $1 or $2 an hour charge as an impediment for their loyal customers, and they see it as making it easier for their customers to get to them.”
“Practically all communities I've talked to [have] said that after the first three or four months of people being upset with it, once they get used to it, it actually enhances business.”
He expects the first few months to be a hassle, “but after that's over, it should make downtown Ogden a more inviting and interesting place to visit.”
Ogden City has scheduled an information session about the parking changes for Sept. 25 at 5:30 p.m.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
