Wichita City Council members have delayed action on a paid parking plan for downtown, but they have narrowed the options being considered from two to five.
The options were presented to the Council Tuesday evening and there were two hours of public comment. Council members voiced support for different options but the discussion ended up focusing on two of them.
Option A would charge 75 cents an hour for parking. In lieu of hourly charges, a daily rate of $5.00 will be offered in parking lots and $10.00 in parking structures. In lieu of daily rates, users can enter into agreements with the City and pay monthly rates of $35.00 per space per month in parking lots and $70.00 per space per month in parking structures. The plan would include Old Town, Delano and downtown, and the rates would be charged from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Option E would be a phased approach with parking rates of $3.00 for parking lots and structures only in 2025, and $3.00 an hour for on-street parking beginning in 2026. There would be no metered parking or time limits in Delano, and parking in that area would be evaluated after the opening of The Hub multimodal center that is now under construction. There would be a daily rate of $18.00 in parking lots and $22.00 in parking structures.
Council members voted to delay a decision and have more discussions at their December 10th meeting.
