SANDPOINT — A healthy discussion helped the City Council set the city’s maximum fees for parking as part of its annual fee schedule review on Wednesday. 

During the discussion, which primarily centered around the hourly fee maximums, the council came to the consensus to set a city-wide maximum at $3 an hour for non-permit holders to park at City Beach and in the city lot on Church Street. Planning and Community Development Director Jason Welker originally proposed $2 an hour, but the council moved to increase the amount in an effort to disincentivize visitors from taking up spaces meant for locals. 

“I would think moving to the $3 mark is more reasonable,” Council President Deb Ruehle said. "When I looked at $2, I thought, ‘Hmm, I don't know where I've ever paid $2,’ so I would be more in favor of $3.” 

Councilors also agreed to increase the maximum penalty on those overstaying in timed spaces downtown to $5 an hour. However, Welker said the starting price when the parking management plan is rolled out this summer will be lower than that maximum. 

The increase was made to deter visitors who don’t have a permit from paying a small amount, like $12, to park all day downtown. In proposing an increase, Councilor Kyle Schireber said the city went down the paid parking route to free up those coveted downtown spots. 

The fee schedule also featured updated permits, which were simplified in the new structure. Now, Sandpoint is proposing offering four permits, which include a city resident permit for $20 a year and a Bonner County resident permit for $35 a year, which allows a car to park for eight hours in downtown and City Beach off-street lots.  

These prices are $5 more than the ones previously listed on the fee schedule. Welker said the reason for the increase was the city adding another step of verification to the permits, through the system provider IPS Group, to ensure only residents can take advantage of the permit system. 

“There's a $6 per permit verification fee charged by IPS Group that brings the cost to the city to around $19 per permit,” Welker said. “If we want to recoup the cost of a city resident permit that the city faces, which is going to be around $19 to $19.50, the proposal is increased.” 

The council was generally in support of the permit prices, which they feel will provide more access to City Beach as visitors look to park elsewhere. Councilor Pam Duquette said she was not in favor of residents having to pay to use City Beach at all and proposed a free pass for residents to pick up at City Hall and use at City Beach. 

"I would separate the passes and [so] city residents don't pay to park at City Beach,” Duquette said. “[The community] is very protective of the beach. As far as the rest of the parking, if they drive a lot and go downtown and need parking places, and they want to buy that $20 pass, I would separate those two.” 

The proposal gained some positive reactions from the council, but did not move forward. Ruehle said she wanted the first year of the system to be as simple to understand for residents as possible, then coming back this time next year to reevaluate the permits. 

“Waiting here gives us time to really think about how we can truly benefit the community,” Councilor Joel Aispuro said, agreeing with Ruehle. “If we're doing very well financially, the next couple of years, we can see ways to subsidize the locals even more.” 

The city has proposed getting rid of the downtown resident pass, combining it with the downtown employee pass to create the broader monthly downtown street parking permit. That permit would cost $40 a month and allow for all-day parking on-street and in off-street lots. 

Welker said this pass is the “Cadillac” of the permits and would be the only way for a Kootenai County or Boundary County resident to acquire a permit and avoid the hourly rates in city lots.  

“Our street parking permits are supposed to be competitive with private parking downtown, which is $60 a month in most lots,” Welker said.  

The fees will come before Sandpoint’s City Council with a public hearing on May 20 at 5:30 p.m. The fully updated fee schedule can be found in the agenda packet on the city's website at sandpointidaho.gov, and the full meeting is available on the city's YouTube channel.