(Arnolds Park)– The days of parking for free in some high volume traffic areas of Arnolds Park may be coming to an end. Meeting in special session Wednesday, the Arnolds Park City Council had some preliminary discussion about the possibility. Councilman Mitch Watters says there’s one factor in particular that brought the concept to the table…
“The whole discussion started around the fact of the cost that the city incurs on re-building the parking lots and the sidewalks and trying to bring a little bit of revenue to help offset that cost to the city.”
Watters says they’ve identified some possible locations where paid parking could be implemented…
“We’re talking down by the green space, the parking lot up by the water tower probably for sure. Other than that it’s kind of an open-ended deal to have the council decide where we want it to go.”
Jon Pausley, CEO of the Arnolds Park Amusement Park, was at Wednesday’s meeting, saying they would be on board with charging at each of their lots as well. Watters says it’s critical both the city and amusement park be on board together…
“We need to do it jointly, together, because if the amusement park does paid parking in their big lots it will push people out into the city lots and city parking. And if we do it, it will push more people into theirs, so it’s kind of a joint effort we’re going to have to do with the amusement park and us to start it all at the same time.”
When it comes to possible fees, Watters says the discussions haven’t gotten to that point yet…
“That’s an open-ended discussion at that time. We can make fees from five dollars for 24 hours to we could charge a premium rate for like nights of big concerts; we could change that pricing right through the kiosk, so. It’s totally up in the air at this point on what cost.”
Watters says you can think of the system as a modern day parking meter…
“Each parking spot will have a label attached to it and you go and you can enter it on your cell phone or you can go up to a kiosk and punch it in and you can pay for as long as you want.”
Police Chief Al Krueger told the council the city would likely need to hire at least two people to help with enforcement. Even then, it was pointed out the system would likely pay for itself within a couple of years or so.
The council Wednesday agreed to further pursue the possibility and will meet with a vendor to get more information. The goal, if final approval is granted, is to implement the system by Memorial Day, 2026. Watters says he looks forward to hearing from the public on the matter in the meantime.
