Street parking in downtown Salt Lake City is about to cost more.
Starting July 1, Utah’s capital city will implement a handful of metered parking changes:
- The hourly parking rate will increase from $2.25 to $3.50, a 55.6% spike.
- No more free two-hour parking on Saturdays.
- Paid parking hours extend till 10 p.m., instead of 8 p.m.
So from Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., drivers will pay for street parking with a two-hour limit. Parking remains free on Sundays and holidays. The changes do not apply to private lots or parking garages, like City Creek Mall or the Gateway.
The city attributed the changes to growth and changing habits. Instead of being a primarily commuter town where employees work and then leave, city leaders said in an Instagram reel that Salt Lake City is “now becoming an event city, meaning people are spending more time downtown after work and on weekends.” The suggested changes were given to the city following a 2022 study.
Julie Crookston, deputy director for Salt Lake City Public Services, said downtown parking is supposed to be short-term.
“The goal of metered parking is to encourage turnover,” she said. “We noticed that as the events in the city have been increasing and more people are coming down to visit, that the turnover wasn't happening like it should be.”
People who visit downtown to grab a bite to eat or a quick drink with a friend haven’t been able to find parking close to their destination, Crookston said. And since “more people are visiting the city on the weekends and in the evenings,” the city decided to add Saturday rates.
Eva Lopez Chavez, who represents downtown on the Salt Lake City Council, supports the revisions.
“We're seeing a lot more entertainment activity, economic transactions and consumer behavior happen in the downtown area, not during just our work time hours, but after 5 p.m.,” she said. “We're really seeing the underbelly of our downtown being exposed in a very positive way.”
Data from the Downtown Alliance shows visitorship is up, and a report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute confirms the city’s population continues to grow.
The changes, according to the Salt Lake City mayor’s recommended budget, are estimated to generate an extra $1.2 million in revenue. Crookston said a projected $800,000 of that will go directly into the city’s general fund and can be used for a slew of different needs, such as “maintaining the roadways and striping the bike lanes.”
Lopez Chavez said the fee increases reflect some growing pains. She empathizes with the concerns of constituents and small businesses, but the extra money in the bank, she said, is needed.
“Anytime you drive on a street, sidewalk repairs, bike lanes, even paying for transit,” Lopez Chavez said, “all of those revenue sources from the meters are going into funneling and creating a sustainable city web of infrastructure.”
She added that the price hike still falls in line with what other similar-sized cities charge. In Denver, street parking costs roughly $2 per hour. Las Vegas ranges between $1 to $3 per hour. Boise fluctuates between 50 cents an hour to $3, with 20 minutes free.
According to Crookston, there are currently 1,650 metered stalls in Salt Lake City. She said the city doesn’t plan on adding more spots at the moment. And parking tickets for meter violations will stay the same.
The 2022 study conducted on Salt Lake City parking habits suggested meters be added to the Sugarhouse neighborhood as well. Crookston and Lopez Chavez said it is not something they are looking at doing right now, but it could happen in the future.
The last time the city increased the price of street parking was in 2019 – by 25 cents.
