Paid parking is back on the table for downtown Ogden.
The city’s new proposal comes a year and a half after a paid parking announcement angered some downtown business owners.
But the city has made some big changes in response to the feedback from residents and business owners. Under the current plan, people who work downtown would be able to park for $10 a month, at least in the beginning, and visitors could park for free for 15 minutes to make quick stops.
The city has proposed an hourly rate of $1.50 to $2.00 for on-street parking, with $1.00 to $1.50 per hour in the WonderBlock garage. The city council would decide on the final rates. Paid parking is planned first for Kiesel Avenue, the WonderBlock East Garage, the 300 block of 23rd Street, Electric Alley and 25th Street between Wall Avenue and Washington Boulevard.
In a press release, Chief Administrative Officer Mara Brown said the goal is to help reduce congestion and the time people spend circling for a spot.
“Managed parking helps create turnover, so visitors spend less time searching and more time shopping, dining, and enjoying Ogden,” she said.
The proposal is on the agenda for the April 14 city council work session. If the council approves it in a later formal meeting, the city wants to start a trial run in May and begin rolling out the program in June.
The plan has been in the works for years. In 2021, a city-commissioned study found that parking was sufficient downtown, but it got crowded in certain areas. Charging for parking in the most popular parts of downtown would encourage people to spread out and park in other places, it said.
Thomas Hardy, who’s run a hair salon on 25th Street for more than 40 years, was a vocal critic of the initial parking plan. He found out about the updated proposal at a recent meeting with city staff and said he was “surprisingly happy.”
His main concern, though, is that the $10 monthly employee parking was pitched as an “initial commitment.”
“That meant, what's going to happen in the future? I don't know, but that's one of the main problems that we were looking at is parking for employees,” he said between haircuts.
The city administration expects downtown to get busier when the WonderBlock construction project is completed. It’s designed to include about 350 apartments, plus new grocery and retail stores.
The city hired a parking and mobility coordinator in October 2024 to oversee the project and communicate with business owners and downtown visitors.
Revenue from paid parking is expected to cover its own operating costs and those of two new parking structures, but it wouldn’t pay for previous construction. It would cover about 3% of the city’s $3.5 million parking structure debt.
Macy Lipkin is a Report for America corps member who reports for KUER in northern Utah.
