Simplified: The City of Sioux Falls wants to extend the hours for metered parking on downtown streets to free up more parking spaces for restaurant patrons, shoppers and visitors. But even when these changes go into effect, parking will remain free at night and on weekends in all city-owned parking garages downtown.

Why it is important

• Downtown Sioux Falls offers more than 2,000 off-street parking spaces between various ramps and parking lots, according to DTSF, Inc. For comparison, on Phillips Avenue between 9th and 12th Streets, there are only about 100 on-street parking spaces.
• Currently, people only have to pay to park in these spaces from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The city is Examination of the extension of opening hours for paid parking on the street at least 7 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays.
• It is an attempt Promote higher vehicle salessaid Matt Nelson, public parks director. This way, parking spaces will remain open for those who come downtown to eat, shop and spend money – instead of being taken up by downtown residents or workers.

“Sometimes an employee will work the night shift,” Nelson said. “Their vehicle will sit there all night, and that means a loss of money for the retailer. Then there are the residents – they park on Friday night and may not move their vehicle until Monday morning.”

Tell me more

The aim of these extended paid parking times It’s not necessarily about forcing people into the ramps, Nelson said. It’s more about making sure that when people park in a curbside spot, they don’t stay there for long.

• The more often cars drive into empty parking lots, the more often their occupants get out and shop in the small, owner-operated shops in the city center.

Joe Batcheller, president of DTSF, Inc., shared data from economist and author David Shoup, who estimates that a parking space that is rebooked 12 to 15 times a day can bring companies up to $300,000 annually.

“We’re talking about a hundred premium parking spaces versus a thousand free spaces in the ramps,” Batcheller said. “A parking switch would reduce congestion on Phillips, provide better on-street parking, ensure more efficient use of the parking ramps, and the additional revenue would be reinvested in downtown.”

Extension of paid parking times also is not a “tax increase”, said Nelson.

• Instead, the extra revenue from the parking fund would be used to pay staff to work the extended enforcement hours. The money would also likely be invested in more wayfinding tools, such as digital signs telling people where to park and where to find parking ramps, Nelson added.

“The additional revenue is not a driving factor,” said Shawn Pritchett, the city’s finance director. “It’s more about helping people have free parking downtown.”

What happens next?

Nelson said expanded enforcement of parking meters will likely begin early next year, ideally giving people time to get used to it before the busy summer months.

There are no plans to increase the hourly rate for parking, However, Nelson said it would likely be part of ongoing discussions.

“The tariffs have to be high enough to create an incentive for people to use the ramps – what is the limit?” he said.