Cd’A may eliminate Parking Commission

COEUR d’ALENE — The City Council will consider dissolving the Parking Commission after staff reported that the body is no longer needed.

“We have done such a good job, councilmembers, that we have worked ourselves out of needing a Parking Commission, in my opinion,” City Administrator Troy Tymesen told the public works committee Monday morning. 

The committee agreed to recommend that the Coeur d’Alene City Council adopt several changes to the municipal code regarding parking, including repealing the chapter that established the Parking Commission. 

The commission, formed in 2005, was established to analyze the city's parking needs and assist in the management of parking-related issues. The city manages 699 on-street parking spaces and five public parking lots. 

It consists of nine members appointed by the mayor, including three community members, two property or business owners within the central business district, one Lake City Development Corporation board member, one downtown employee, one North Idaho College representative and one Fort Ground neighborhood resident. 

The Parking Commission typically meets monthly, but has little work to do. In fact, Tymesen said, the body has reached quorum just two times in the past two years and, as a result, hasn’t conducted business or even approved meeting minutes in more than a year and a half. 

“Good people,” Tymesen said. “Not a lot of meaningful topics.” 

City administrative staff have handled parking appeals while the Downtown Association and Diamond Parking have managed parking overall, Tymesen said, leaving few matters that need the commission’s attention. 

Public feedback led to recommendations for several additional changes to the municipal code, according to a report prepared by city staff. 

One proposed amendment clarifies that payment of the hourly parking fee or possession of a monthly permit is required to park at any city facility, except at City Hall and the Coeur d’Alene Public Library parking lots. 

The city now tracks parking electronically, so drivers will no longer be required to display the monthly permit. The monthly payment deadline will change to pay in advance. 

Parking Commission members serve without pay, so eliminating the body won’t have any financial impact. Tymesen said the money in the city’s parking fund will remain under the purview of the City Council. 

“It continues to perform very well,” he said. “We have over $400,000 that’s going back into your parks fund because many of our parking lots are on park land. That has really helped the general fund to keep these awesome parks looking as good as they do.”