Tigard has put a hold on issuing warnings, and later citations, for those who park overtime in downtown Tigard and the Tigard Triangle. (Submitted photo by city of Tigard)

Tigard is holding off on issuing warnings, and ultimately parking tickets, for those who overstay time limits in downtown Tigard and the Tigard Triangle parking spaces. 

On June 24, the Tigard City Council agreed to continue studying parking issues in both of those core areas of the city. Previous suggestions had called for issuing warnings for overtime parking in July and August with plans to issue $53 tickets to violators beginning Sept. 1. 

However, those proposals don’t seem to have the support of the business community and the Tigard Chamber of Commerce. 

 

Chamber opposed to ‘theoretical models over real impact’

“For years, businesses along 72nd/Beveland Street (in the Tigard Triangle) and downtown Tigard have voiced their concerns about the program, and the concerns remain unaddressed,” Megan De Salvo, executive director of the Tigard Chamber of Commerce, told the council. “Despite repeated feedback sessions (and) emails, many of our members have told us that they feel that there’s a lack of transparency in their feedback that’s been given and how decisions have been made.”

De Salvo, who also owns a Tigard business, said the organization is not opposed to managing parking but is opposed to “theoretical models over real impact.”

She added, “The proposed enforcement plans risk driving away the very people we’re trying to attract in these revitalized areas.”

Whitney Green Bautista, a licensed acupuncturist who owns an office building in the Tigard Triangle, said she had general concerns about implementing two-hour parking limitations in that area, saying it would make it difficult physically for herself and employees to walk longer distances to move their cars. 

“We save our current parking spots for our patients because our patients are seeing us because they’re in pain,” she said. “A lot of them have limitations. They can’t ride a bike, they can’t walk far distances, and they need a close distance to receive the care that they need.”

Proposals at a recent parking forum suggested some four-hour parking spaces should be created by the city. 

 

Tigard Triangle has fewer parking spaces

In February, the council asked the city community development director’s office to gather information about the city’s 263 on-street parking spaces and the 33 spaces in public parking lots available for customers in downtown Tigard. Included too would be about 36 spaces on several streets in the city’s so-called Tigard Triangle, located on the east side of Highway 217.

In addition to those public spaces, there are an estimated 2,132 private parking spaces in the downtown area owned by local businesses and the city of Tigard, including spaces at Tigard City Hall and Tigard Public Works, according to a staff report. Those spaces would not be a part of a parking program. 

What the city discovered during a study is that neither downtown nor major streets in the Tigard Triangle reached 85% occupancy at peak hours. 

The takeaway at the time showed that 41 vehicles stayed parked past the posted limit, with 92% of them exceeding four or more hours.

 

Council worries about negative results for area businesses

During the June 24 council meeting, Community Development Director Sambo Kirkman said the city hasn’t been issuing citations, with staff suggesting it report back to the council in August with ways to explore alternative methods to address city parking woes.

Mayor Heidi Lueb said the council seemed to be hearing from a lot of different interest groups, who have “wildly conflicting statements because their interests are different which requires a different solution for each of them.” 

Other councilors agreed that strict parking space enforcement in Tigard could have a negative impact on those who come to shop in Tigard. Councilor Heather Robbins said she did not feel like parking enforcement would solve parking problems since the areas aren’t at full capacity.

Councilor Faraz Ghoddusi agreed with that sentiment as well. 

“I do feel that enforcement will dissuade people from spending time in our businesses. Apparently it doesn’t have significant financial impact (for) the city and, given the utilization rates that we’re looking at, it seems like we’re looking for a problem that’s not necessarily there,” Ghoddusi said. 

Councilor Jake Schlack said he supported a more holistic look at parking in the downtown and Triangle area, noting that the issues the city faced when it started to look at parking problems 15 years ago aren’t the same the city faces today. Schlack agreed that the city needs to gather more data regarding city parking in general.