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OGDEN — Chris Zenger, who operates a bakery on Historic 25th Street in Ogden, foresees a quick response from shoppers if the city shifts to paid downtown parking as planned.
"They'll avoid it. They'll find an alternative, and one of those cursed alternatives will be Riverdale," he said, alluding to the Riverdale Road commercial corridor in the neighboring city of Riverdale. "People are just going to go there."
The city's plans to start charging visitors to park in the downtown area have been in the works and focus of public debate for at least two years, but as the change looms, opposition is getting more vocal, most notably among downtown business operators like Zenger. Thomas Hardy, who operates a hair salon, worries about the financial hit to his customers.
They'll have to pay for their hair care, he said, "and then they're going to be hit on top of that with paid parking."
The topic was focus of an open house sponsored by the city on Wednesday, when Zenger, Hardy and others aired their concerns and peppered city officials with questions. The critics variously worry paid parking will drive visitors away, hurting their businesses, and that employees working in the zone will take a financial hit because they'll have to pay to park as well, though they'd face discounted fees.
"The employees are going to have to pay to come to work, and what they're trying to do is come to work to get paid," said Karen Van Colln, who operates a pair of bars along Historic 25th Street. If her employees were to park further from the bars she operates to access areas where parking would still be free, she worries about their safety walking to their vehicles in the wee hours of the morning, after the locales close.
David Sawyer, deputy executive director of Ogden's Community and Economic Development Department, fielded the comments at Wednesday's meeting, held at Union Station. Afterward, he said city officials would weigh the input and see if accommodations and changes could be made to the plans in response. Halting implementation of paid parking, though, is off the table. "The only thing that's set in stone, to be honest, is we're going to do paid parking," he said.
What's more, while those speaking out at Wednesday's meeting were overwhelmingly critical of the planned parking changes — to be implemented starting next spring — other downtown business operators favor the shift, Sawyer said. Moving from free parking, proponents say, will likely deter visitors from keeping slots occupied for hours at a time, allowing for more fluid traffic flow and increasing the odds of finding an open spot on Historic 25th Street.
Part of a grander strategy
The move to paid parking on Historic 25th Street and in other adjacent streets in Ogden's business core is part of a grander strategy to bolster growth and development in the zone, outlined in the city's Make Ogden plan. Nearly a whole city block south of Historic 25th Street, dubbed WonderBlock, is being redeveloped with apartments, commercial space, a hotel, a grocery store and two parking garages. Longer term, plans are also in the works to overhaul Union Station, where Wednesday's meeting was held, and develop the land around it.
The upshot will be more people living in the downtown area and more traffic, factoring in the move to paid downtown parking. Historic 25th Street is a vibrant strip that's home to restaurants, bars and local businesses, but the downtown area is also home to other amenities that lure visitors. Those include Lindquist Field, home to the Ogden Raptors, a Pioneer League baseball team, and The Junction, an entertainment area that's home to a movie theater and more.
"The adjustment to paid parking will help with current parking challenges such as congestion and length of stay," Mike McBride, spokesman for the administration of Mayor Ben Nadolski, said in a message to KSL.com. Moreover, it'll help in dealing with the addition of residents and workers to the downtown area as development in the zone moves forward.
Revenue generated by paid parking would be used to help cover the cost of the new city-owned parking garage taking shape in the WonderBlock area, according to city officials.
While paid parking would first be implemented on Historic 25th Street, the Electric Alley parking area north of that and Kiesel Avenue, plans call for its expansion to a broader downtown swath. Hourly fees would range from $1 to $1.50 an hour in parking lots and $1.50 to $2 an hour on the street.
In the wake of Wednesday's gathering, Weston Hardy, who helps at the hair salon owned by Thomas Hardy, his dad, said he would reach out to downtown business operators and try to arrange a meeting with them and city leaders.
