With unfunded pension liability and the looming environmental clean-up of Harbor Island, the City of Grand Haven is facing financial challenges. They recently increased the tax rate by .5 mil and are seeking alternative revenue streams. Some Council Members feel paid parking is a promising option and want to explore charging in the Lake Forest Cemetery lot, but others are opposed.
Mayor Catherine McNally and Council Member Michael Fritz seem to be opposed to the idea of paid parking, while Council Members Ryan Cummins and Karen Lowe seem to see paid parking as a viable option. Kevin McLaughlin appears undecided. Among those running to be the next mayor of Grand Haven, Andrea Hendrick and Bob Monetza appear to be in favor of paid parking while Benjamin Genser and Mayor McNally are not. The topic has been discussed in several recent city council meetings.
During the city council meeting on June 20, 2023, Council Member Lowe described some paid parking options. “When we talk about paid parking everyone needs to understand that it is not a widget. There are many different parking systems and models out there. In fact, there’s been significant migration over the past 10 years from a hardware parking meter kiosk focus to a digital focus.”
During the June 5, 2023, city council meeting, Council Member Mike Fritz stated, “We did have parking meters at one time, because it was supposed to bring in revenue for us, but what it did was it drove the business out of downtown and moved it out to the malls.”
(03:11:20) During the June 20, 2023, Grand Haven City Council meeting, the current city council agreed to proceed with a study to examine the feasibility of paid parking. Although the vote to move forward with a study was unanimous, Council Member Lowe and Mayor McNally gave opposing arguments on implementing paid parking.
(03:18:00) Council Member Lowe stated, “My support for this is contingent on two assumptions; one, that residents should not be charged for parking and two, the main street, downtown, merchants or Washington Square, center town, or the Beechtree corridor are also excluded. We are looking at the beach waterfront. The last thing that I would say is, there has been discussion and I see that we have omitted our Lake Forest Chapel lot. This city-owned parking lot adjacent to the chapel on Lake Avenue, you could call it the cemetery parking lot. Historic cemeteries do not have parking lots. Anyone that goes to a cemetery understands, especially a historic one like Lake Forrest Cemetery, you drive through the cemetery roads. [] So I would like to ask that those spots be included in the analysis going forward.”
Mayor McNally gave an opposing opinion. “I think paid parking won’t be good for our town overall. Though I admit the possibility of a new revenue stream is very tempting. If paid parking drives beach goers to other communities that have free beach access, our businesses will suffer. I feel paid parking will eliminate one of the few free places families can get down to the beach in the summer, and I like that about our town. I think it promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion. [] I previously expressed concerns about the changes that will occur to our sight lines along the riverfront and the beach with the addition of kiosks and signage. []
I’m concerned about the businesses along our waterfront that count on free parking for their customers just as downtown merchants do. Downtown there are nearby residential streets on which customers can park; here, not nearly as many. I hear proponents talk about how much Muskegon has made with paid parking, but they fail to mention that the Pier Marquette lot in Muskegon is primarily a single large lot more equivalent to our state park lot then a series of small dispersed lots we own. When you can man or automate a single gate for a large lot, and not rely on dispersed parking infrastructure, your implementation costs will be lower, your connectivity issues will be substantially simpler, your effect on the beach scape will be minimized and your user experience less off-putting. I’ve never heard of a parking expert who sells you parking equipment and software who won’t assure you that you can make some money, but of course he gets his share off the top.”
If you live in Grand Haven and have an opinion regarding paid parking, you may want to consider this issue when you go to the polls and you may want to consider expressing your opinion at a city council meeting.