“You can please all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you can’t please all the people all the time,” City Engineer Chuck Williams said of the city’s current dispersed parking project, which began in 2017 and aims to construct an additional 188 stalls of on-street parking within city limits.
The project is funded by the Utah Department of Transportation through a one-time “Recreation Hotspot” grant originally awarded in 2018.
The city has collected feedback from city staff, councilmembers, and residents about the project: Currently, the city’s team of design consultants has completed the 30% design for engineering and potential enhancements or aesthetics.
A demonstration of the parking plan can be seen currently along the stretch of 100 E. between Center St. and 100 N. During the Sept. 13 city council meeting, the council reviewed the plan and decided whether or not to follow through with it all the way.
Additional parking stalls were proposed along 200 N., 100 N., Center St., 100 E., and 100 S. The plan also includes landscape elements like tailgate benches, bollard lights, shade trees, shade sails, drinking fountains, and decorative boulders; lights and benches are included in the UDOT budget, everything else would be covered by the city. Williams said the city would still be within the budget if it included the landscape elements. Maintaining those amenities would take at least one full-time employee, who the city would have to hire.
Councilmember Rani Derasary asked about oversized vehicles, such as buses and RVs—Williams said he didn’t hear that concern very often from residents and said oversized vehicles could park elsewhere in town.
Councilmember Kalen Jones pointed out that the amenities included in the parking project—specifically, the lights, recycling, and landscaping plants —must be in-line with the city’s current policies: the lights should be dark-sky appropriate; there should be recycling in addition to trash, which Mayor Joette Langianese agreed with; and he asked that there be a planting plan. The city currently has a landscaping ordinance in the works that would prioritize planting native and water-efficient plants.
The council unanimously agreed to continue with the project.
The city also moved forward with its project to construct parking on Emma Boulevard by awarding the construction contract, an amount of $901,335, to Kilgore Companies.
