The Municipal Services Committee is holding a special meeting 10/02/2024 at 6:45PM just prior to the 7PM Common Council meeting.
They have one item on their agenda which is a request from Appleton Downtown Inc. for free ramp and meter parking on Small Business Saturday, 11/30/2024.
Last year, due to logistical issues, the request to provide free ramp parking on Small Business Saturday was denied, but the city did allow free on-street parking.
During the various discussions last year, it was noted that the city’s average intake in parking fees on Saturdays in November was $3,800, and, at that time, ADI’s Executive Director had not been able to provide an estimate how much of an uptick in revenue the downtown businesses would experience if free parking were offered.
The letter from ADI to the Council this year does not present any solutions to the logistical issues that were discussed last year, nor does it provide an estimate of the economic benefit the downtown businesses are expected to receive.
Last year, both Alderpersons Katie Van Zeeland (District 5) and Sheri Hartzheim (District 13) expressed a desire that the city would create a policy for dealing with requests for the wholesale removal of parking fees in the downtown area, but since last year such a policy has not been created.
View full meeting details here: https://cityofappleton.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=1232566&GUID=5FC195D5-97D1-4EDC-964B-7D2862CC3249
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