Modesto asked residents how the city could improve parking downtown. Here are 8 ideas
About 40 people offered ideas on how to enhance parking in downtown Modesto at two meetings led by a consultant.
Some urged a return of parking meters, last seen in these parts in the late 1990s. Others want to tweak the time limits to better match customer needs. Still others suggested making garages more attractive.
The city hired Dixon Resources Unlimited, based in San Diego, to draft a plan on a $185,000 contract. One of the firm’s principals, Julie Dixon, held online and live meetings May 10 and 11.
She said Modesto likely does not need to build new parking lots or garages, but it could better manage the spaces it has. A key step could be making the garages free and some street spaces paid, the reverse of the current system.
Several businesspeople said curbside time limits are too short, including the mostly two-hour spaces near the State Theatre.
“We want the economy of downtown to thrive, which means a movie and a dinner,” said Kirstie Boyett-Zacharias, the venue’s former executive director.
The firm also is taking input via an online survey of people who park downtown. It already has more than 500 responses and could be up for about another month.
Dixon hopes to release a draft plan around August and get final approval from the City Council by late September.
Some of the ideas offered over Zoom and in a Tenth Street Place conference room:
Leave spaces just outside businesses for customers. Employees can park in garages or on streets with no time limits.
Install meters in parts of downtown with higher parking demand. Today’s technology allows a driver to extend the time remotely with a smart phone. City leaders of the late ’90s thought the coin-fed meters discouraged business.
Install chargers for electric vehicles in parking lots. They will explode in number as California phases out sales of gasoline-powered cars by 2035.
Adjust the time limits for street parking. Speakers mentioned, for example, a bridal shop that tends to have appointments well past two hours.
Improve lighting and cleaning of garages so they are more inviting to drivers.
Stop charging fees for the garages. This would help fill the often vacant stalls and free up curbside parking.
Widen garage stalls so drivers can enter them with a simple turning motion.
Build more dense housing downtown, such as the six-story project that could rise on Seventh Street if funding comes through.
The parking study could mesh with a 2020 downtown plan covering all kinds of land uses. It envisions about 1,500 apartments and townhomes in multistory buildings. Residents could walk to workplaces, dining and a depot coming perhaps by late 2026 for the Altamont Corridor Express.
Modesto is in on another trend: easing the minimum parking requirements for housing. Past practices left many vacant spaces that do little to make cities vibrant.
Vickie Higginbotham, who attended Thursday’s meeting, said she likes the housing and other elements of the 2020 plan. She also had suggestions for the current garages.
“The spaces should be a little bit larger ... and there has to be a great deal of reassurance about the safety and the lighting,” she said.
Dixon’s firm has worked with clients across the nation on improvements to parking. She urged Modestans to take a cautious approach, so residents get accustomed to the changes.
For example, installing meters might cost close to $1 million, Dixon said. “And then guess what, everybody moves their cars and parks on the perimeter, and then we have all these empty streets in the core.”
