SANDPOINT — The Sandpoint City Council voted to limit paid parking to Sandpoint City Beach and city lots, while parking kiosks in free two-hour zones remain disabled until a revised motion can be presented at their next meeting.

Councilors said they hope the decision will provide an opportunity to educate the community about the parking program and build trust within the community for the next couple of weeks.

At the beginning of the month, brand-new, glossy kiosks began to dot the city's downtown core as part of a new parking plan approved by the council last March.

However, the rollout has been less than pleasant, leaving many residents and community members disgruntled. 

Concerned business owners said they have seen a decrease in sales since the enforcement of paid parking.

One community member said he had spent $1,500 in the city's downtown area in recent months, but following the program's rollout, he has chosen to invest his money elsewhere. 

Jessi Johnston, owner of two downtown businesses, said revenue from customers during the busy summer months of June through September carries her businesses through the rest of the year. 

Since the program's rollout, Johnston said her company's personal sales have fallen by 64% compared to the same period last year. 

"We don't have the luxury of making up those losses later in the year," Johnston said, "I'm struggling to feed my family." 

Community and development planner Jason Welker apologized to the community at Wednesday’s meeting, for a lack of clear communication, technical issues, and enforcement errors during the initial weeks of the implementation. 

"Those problems have been corrected, but that does not erase the experience of the people who encountered them," he said. 

Councilor Kyle Schreiber said when the idea of charging tourists to use City Beach was first proposed, he thought it was a good idea. 

"City Beach is a high-use facility that requires significant operations and maintenance spending, and frankly parts of it are well overdue for a complete overhaul," Schreiber said. 

Although he still supports the concept of asking beachgoers to pitch in a couple of dollars toward those costs, he said the concerns he raised throughout the process of rolling out the parking program were not addressed. 

"I'm going to make a motion to table this item and direct staff to immediately disable all the kiosks except the ones at City Beach and by the end of this calendar year develop a way to accept cash payment," said Schreiber. 

He also proposed an in-house permitting program offering free permits to city taxpayers, along with a staff report on privacy concerns surrounding the intrusion prevention system platform.

City attorney Fonda Jovick, said the changes requested by Schreiber needed to be made to the resolution, which would need to be brought back to the city's next meeting, Schreiber then amended his motion to table the item and bring back the necessary code amendments for charging for parking at city beach.

Councilor Joel Aispuro proposed amending the motion to include free parking for employees in the city lots, ensuring they have convenient access to parking near their workplace. Schrieber agreed with the amendment. 

Councilor Deb Ruele said she was concerned about making a "rash decision," as a significant amount of money was spent on the kiosks with the idea that they would recover the cost through the program. 

"Once we stop and we rip things out of the ground, we've cost the taxpayers a lot of money," Ruele said. 

Welker said the concern, frustration, and public opposition to the parking plan should not be minimized. 

As project manager of the plan, Welker said he wanted to be direct about his own responsibility and acknowledged the shortcomings of the program's rollout. 

Welker thanked city employees, including police officers, for helping the community navigate the new system, noting that many have shown patience while being heckled, cleaning up vandalized kiosks and emphasizing education over citations. 

"Those employees did not design this program, adopt this program, or direct its implementation. They have simply done their jobs professionally and patiently while absorbing much of the public's frustration," Welker said.