The Poulsbo City Council is expected to approve a $94,700 contract with Walker Consultants out of Seattle for downtown parking implementation, which could include stronger enforcement, an employee parking area, signage and paid/hybrid parking.
The item will be on the consent agenda for the council’s Aug. 21 meeting.
The city has free public parking. But in May, the council accepted the four recommendations from the downtown parking committee with staff’s commitment to return with a schedule and budget for consideration. The recommendations were based on Walker’s study and action plan from 2023.
Since then, city staff has reengaged with Walker to prepare a proposal to implement the council’s recommendations, city documents read. There are six tasks that Walker expects 10-12 weeks to complete. Total cost would be $94,700.
The tasks are: 1: parking implementation considerations, $33,400; 2: municipal code updates, $4,200; 3: development of enforcement operations, $15,500; 4: employee parking permit program – pilot, $20,900; 5: downtown signage implementation master plan, $9,700; 6: implementation presentations, $11,000.
The scope of task 1 would include: paid parking and enforcement implementation budget (will demonstrate an assumption of operational cost, as related to the proposed phased approach to paid parking, which includes charging on Anderson Parkway, Front Street, and Jensen Way to Iverson Street), step-by-step actionable guide, paid parking administrative memorandum, and recommendation of parking enforcement solutions, per documents.
“We need this information to keep moving forward,” Councilmember Gary McVey said.
Following the completion of task 1, Walker will return to council to explain their findings, and staff will seek support on moving forward with the subsequent tasks. Planning director Heather Wright noted that tasks 2-6 are not in order and are anticipated to overlap and coincide with each other.
“You can stop and evaluate this information to decide if you want to proceed with what’s being proposed,” she said. “The idea is to stop and evaluate before making any commitments, and before (Walker) proceeds with the other five tasks.”
Background
Since the 1950s Poulsbo has had double-digit percentage population growth every decade, documents read. As a result, there have been ever-increasing levels of parking demand downtown. The parking committee formed in February 2021. With an array of past and current studies and initiatives, the city engaged Walker to craft the parking study and action plan, specifically with intent to create best practice actionable steps for implementation. In addition, following a request from council, the committee received a presentation from Historic Downtown Poulsbo Association representative Brenda Yates.
Guiding principles of the plan include: addressing localized demand; equitably accommodating all users; prioritizing parking management while embracing Poulsbo’s welcoming, friendly spirit; and maximizing long-term financial sustainability for new parking and mobility programs with an emphasis on data-driven decision-making, per documents.
The development of the plan involved a community engagement process, where residents, business owners, transportation and mobility advocacy and policy groups, and other stakeholders were engaged for feedback.
