SANDPOINT — Downtown parking has been a topic of conversation among city officials over the years.

On Wednesday, however, the parking conversation shifted just outside of the downtown core, as off-street parking requirements in the City Code are hindering new development in the commercial zone surrounding downtown.

“Any kind of development or even just a change of use triggers parking requirements,” said Aaron Qualls, the city’s planning and economic development director, during a workshop-style council meeting on Wednesday.

In 2009, City Council reduced parking requirements for residential uses from two spaces to 1.4 per unit. At the same time, parking minimums for buildings within the downtown core and extending one-half of a block outward were eliminated. This allowed for building use changes and expansions of businesses such as Joel’s Mexican Restaurant, the Pend d’Oreille Winery, The Hive, and Kochava, Qualls said.

More recently, Qualls said, there are projects outside of that downtown area that have been stalled or run into issues regarding parking requirements.

“An example would be, potentially, other development at the Granary site; there is a vacant parcel just south of Poplar; there is the Loaf and Ladle building that I understand is being remodeled for a business that was recently looking for a home,” Qualls said. “If a building permit comes in, it may trigger parking requirements that may make the project unfeasible.”

The Planning and Zoning Commission proposed several changes to Title 9 Chapter 5 of the City Code for off-street parking, the main one being expanding the deregulated area for non-residential uses. This would eliminate parking minimums north to south from approximately Poplar to Lake Street, and east to west from Sand Creek to Sixth Avenue. One challenge of parking deregulation, according to the report from the commission, is if density is maximized over the course of development of subsequent years, more parking may be pushed onto streets and other public parking areas.

Another proposed change would revise the minimum parking standards for residential uses as well, creating a provision for multifamily units under 800 square-feet. In that provision, on space would be required for units under 800 square-feet, while anything over that would still require 1.4 spaces per unit. It would also require two spaces for detached single family units in excess of three bedrooms. Accessory dwelling units and cottages were added as well, requiring one space per unit.

Mayor Shelby Rognstad said when the changes were made in 2009, the city was trying to do “whatever it could” to create vitality downtown and encourage business investment on the heels of the recession.

“Things have changed,” Rognstad said. “We are at a good place right now, we’ve got some vitality happening downtown, we’ve had some significant employers move downtown … I think now is really important timing for us to be really looking at our downtown parking regulations holistically, and really gain some perspective on where do we want to be in 10, 20 years down the road.”

The conversation then swayed toward ways to generate revenue for a parking structure downtown, including the possibility of charging for on-street parking downtown with metered parking, or charging for parking at City Beach, with city residents getting a free pass and county residents getting a discount.

While the topic of parking revenue dominated a good portion of the workshop, City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton said according to the city’s strategic plan, that is a topic that will return for consideration in fiscal year 2020 after improvements to First Avenue are completed. That way, she said, they will have a better idea of the number of available parking spots and their usage. A parking study would be done at that time, she said.

“With the limited parking that we have downtown, with the amount of activity that we have downtown, I think that we are reaching a threshold where we need to start having that conversation,” Rognstad said. “... For me to make a decision today to expand the boundary without having a conversation about revenue, I don’t feel comfortable with that.”

As it was a workshop, no decision could be made Wednesday night regarding the changes to City Code. The next step, Qualls said, would be for the Planning and Zoning Commission to hold a public hearing. The soonest that may happen is in about two months, he said.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.