Parking Change Aimed at Boosting Retail Activity

The City of Dearborn is transitioning away from a user-paid parking system in the west downtown business district to encourage greater interest from real estate developers and to boost customer activity.

The de-commissioning of the user-paid parking system addresses the perception that paid parking is an obstacle to redevelopment.

It also addresses a popular sentiment that paying for parking in public lots, decks and on-street spaces discourages customers who would otherwise patronize west Dearborn businesses.

It is expected that the decommissioning of the user-paid parking system will take place in January 2015. The City Council voted on Oct. 21 to phase out the user-paid system, based on a recommendation from the Mayor and the Parking Advisory Commission.

Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. stated in advocating the change:

“This is a very positive step that will help us achieve our goal of promoting more investment and activity in the west downtown. To get the best results for our local economy, we need to be realistic and remove anything that is perceived as an impediment to recreating a robust and vibrant business district.”

The user-paid system will be replaced with an enforced time-limit parking system. That means spaces will be designated for 2-, 3-, 8- or 12-hour timeframes. Vehicles remaining beyond those timeframes may receive parking tickets.

The closest spots will continue to have the most limited times, to encourage turnover. Employees in the district will still be able to match their work shifts with parking spaces that are farther away, but designated for more hours.

The same system eventually will be in place in the east downtown area.

The possibility of retaining meters at some prime on-street parking spots in west Dearborn to encourage turnover is also under consideration. These are along Howard, from West Village Drive to Garrison; Mason, from West Village Drive to Michigan Avenue; and West Village Drive, along Mason to Howard.

The public parking system will continue to be financed with money from the West Dearborn Downtown Development Authority and the City’s general fund at a lesser amount than in previous years.

The City is also considering the re-instatement of a Special Assessment District (SAD) to cover the operational costs of the parking system.

Under an SAD, which is a public version of a Common Area Maintenance (CAM) charge used at private malls and multi-client centers, businesses that use the public parking spaces will be required to pay for their upkeep, insurance and snow removal but not infrastructure improvements.

The boundaries of the SAD and the cost allocation assigned to each business would be determined at public hearings before the City Council.

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