The Common Council met 11/01/2023. One of the items they separated out for an individual vote was the request from Appleton Downtown Inc. for free ramp and meter parking in downtown Appleton on Small Business Saturday, 11/25/2023.
ADI had initially requested both free ramp and free meter parking, but after considering the request the Municipal Services Committee realized that there were logistical issues related to offering free ramp parking that were difficult to overcome, so they ended up recommending that free meter parking be offered on the street but that the ramps not be opened up for free parking.
The Common Council voted unanimously to approve this recommendation.
I’ve prepared a transcript of the discussion for download.
Appleton Downtown Inc Executive Director Jennifer Stephany briefly spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting. She said that Small Business Saturday was “the heart of downtowns across the country and across the world.” Offering free parking was a way to remove barriers to people coming downtown to shop on a very special day.
There was not a lot of discussion by the Council about it. The alderpersons who did speak on it were supportive of the idea. Alderperson Vered Meltzer (District 2) hoped that in future years they would be able to figure out a way to feasibly offer free parking in the ramps as well as on the metered on-street stalls.
Alderperson Chris Croatt (District 14) asked how much the free parking would cost the city and was told that the average intake from parking fees on Saturdays in November over the last 5 years was around $2,300. In 2022, it was $3,800.
Alderpersons Sheri Hartzheim (District 15) and Katie Van Zeeland (District 5) both expressed the desire that the city would create a policy going forward for dealing with requests of this nature. Alderperson Hartzheim felt that the Municipal Services Committee had been flying by the seat of its pants in trying to figure out how to offer free parking on Small Business Saturday and she would like to see that change going forward. Alderperson Van Zeeland felt that the conversation at the committee had been robust and it was important to allow free parking this year, but she also wanted to see an actual policy created. She also noted that none of the downtown meters would be bagged on Small Business Saturday so people would still be able to pay if they didn’t realize parking was free.
The Council voted 15-0 to allow free parking at metered stalls in downtown Appleton on Small Business Saturday 11/25/2023.
View full meeting details and video here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1120380&GUID=59C8392B-B7FA-46B9-B8E4-0F1495154936
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