Healdsburg considers proposal for downtown parking meters

Part of Healdsburg's charm - free downtown parking - could vanish under a proposal being considered by city officials.

The notion of paying to park downtown in the heart of Wine Country is being greeted by merchants and tourists with about the same enthusiasm as a tainted bottle of claret.

Free parking may entice people to flock downtown and linger a little longer in eateries and shops. But charging for parking is seen by city officials as a potential cash infusion of more than $850,000 for the city's deficit-ridden general fund.

There are plenty of skeptics who question the change.

"It's not beneficial for the town," said Theresa Taylor, manager of Noble Designs, as she stood outside her jewelry and gift shop facing Healdsburg Plaza on Wednesday. "When you go and charge people to park, tourists complain they have to watch out for a ticket."

As if on cue, a visitor who had just gotten out of his car chimed in.

"Oh good, no meters," said Jack Harroun of Vancouver, Wash. "With meters, there's a stress created. You won't linger as long. You're always ready for the meter maid to come and tag you."

"I would avoid Healdsburg. I don't deal with those machines," said Virginia Walker, a Cloverdale retiree who was visiting Healdsburg with her family. "I don't go to Santa Rosa anymore. We'd go to Calistoga instead."

But city leaders, after years of cutbacks, are looking just about anywhere for more money in the face of a $1 million deficit for the budget year ending in June. That's why two versions of parking kiosks are under consideration.

One would be similar to what Santa Rosa has installed in recent years -- a "pay and display," dollar-per-hour system. The motorist parks, and purchases a timed pass at a nearby kiosk using credit, debit card or coins, then returns to the vehicle to post the parking pass on the dashboard.

The other involves purchasing time for a numbered space at the kiosk, without a need to return to the vehicle.

"You don't have to go back to the car. Parking staff reads the kiosk and it gives them a list of parking spaces with expired visits," said Healdsburg Police Lt. Kevin Young.

The advantage of that system, he said, is people can be alerted on their smartphones when their time is expiring and can purchase additional time on their phone without going back to the car.

In Santa Rosa, paid parking and getting ticketed are a perennial source of complaints. The kiosk system has met with mixed reviews and one Railroad Square merchant this week disparaged it.

"It's the kiss of death for retail. It's been a difficult situation," said Carol Prezel, owner of Carolina & Co. boutique. "People come in and say 'I love your store, but I'm never coming down again. I hate this (kiosk parking.)' "

Healdsburg is a desirable shopping destination, she said, "because there's not paid parking," similar to St. Helena, Petaluma, Windsor and Sonoma.

The Healdsburg Police Department presented the idea to the City Council at a workshop in late February when the city was scrutinizing the cost of delivering services in the face of its budget challenges.

The Saturday workshop drew scant attendance, but the city has scheduled another public workshop at 6 p.m. May 10 at City Hall to discuss the paid-parking proposal further.

City Council members find the prospect of a new revenue source worth exploring.

"As so many municipalities are now, we're starved for revenue," City Councilman Jim Wood said this week. "We've made fairly drastic cuts in expenses, eliminated lots of positions and even with all that, we're finding it difficult to provide core services to the community."

City leaders say they haven't made up their minds on whether to implement paid parking.

"I want to hear more," said Mayor Gary Plass. "I like what I heard as far as the potential revenue. I want to hear from the people who live here."

According to the Police Department, depending on what system is implemented, paid parking could generate as much as $1.5 million in annual gross revenues, with net revenues estimated at about $852,000 with various costs factored in

Young cautioned that it depends on what type of system the city purchases, whether it contracts out the operation, and whether paid parking will apply only to to the 395 street spaces, or also to the 267 off-street parking spaces in four parking lots.

Other factors include what hours to charge and whether to do so on weekends.

Currently, the city allows up to three hours per space of downtown street parking seven days a week and has a single police technician who enforces the time limit. The 479 citations generated last year covered less than one-third of the employee's $60,000 salary.

Plass recalls a time in the 1950s and 1960s when there were parking meters, prior to Healdsburg becoming a tourist destination.

"I remember them as a child. They were part of life then," he said. "From what I remember, when they came out (were removed), it was at the urging of the merchants, who wanted it to be a little more friendly."

Merchants interviewed this week want to see it remain free.

"I think charging for parking is problematic. It discourages people from coming downtown and shopping locally," said Aaron Rosewater, owner of Levin & Co. bookstore. "It makes it less convenient."

He said there are better ways for the city to increase revenues, such as the half-cent sales tax hike that the City Council is contemplating asking voters to approve on the November ballot.

"I have a feeling people will say 'Let's go home and order online,' rather than pay for parking, " Levin said.

"I would be hesitant to use this as a mechanism for money being generated," said Cathleen Boitano-Grande, owner of Bella, a boutique facing the Plaza. "It will have a direct relation to locals choosing whether to come."

You can reach Staff Writer Clark Mason at 521-5214 or clark.mason@pressdemocrat.com.