All hourly public parking in Puyallup will once again be free starting Thursday.
The Puyallup City Council voted 6-0 last week to terminate paid parking in the garage below Puyallup City Hall, which is the only paid public lot in the city.
The change will take effect Thursday.
The city has paid Republic Parking to manage the garage since 2008, but lost nearly $35,000 on the deal during the garage’s first eight months of operation, according to the state auditor’s office.
The city paid Republic $35,772 to run the garage between August 2008 and March 2009, but the garage brought in only $1,023 in revenue, auditor’s office spokeswoman Mindy Chambers said.
The council voted to end the city’s contract with Republic with little discussion March 22.
“We were just losing too much money on it,” Councilman Rick Hansen said Monday. “There was no real benefit for us; it was simply a sinking fund.”
Councilwoman Tami Brouillet was absent.
The City Council will still have a study session April 20 to discuss greater parking issues in Puyallup. Between now and then, Republic Parking is donating its time to help Puyallup staff members come up with ways to improve free parking, City Manager Gary McLean said.
Puyallup’s parking assessment comes about six months before a Park & Ride lot is scheduled to open at the Puyallup Fair and Events Center.
Fair officials are partnering with Sound Transit to turn part of the fair’s Red Lot into parking for commuters who catch the Sounder train at the Puyallup station.
In the past, some Puyallup council members and downtown merchants have said that too much street parking in downtown Puyallup is filled by commuters parking near the Sound Transit station.
The new Park & Ride lot is set to open shortly after the 17-day Puyallup Fair in September. It will add more than 200 parking spaces for commuters, fair officials said.
Councilman Don Malloy said the new spaces at the fairgrounds may create more options for a city-owned lot near the Sound Transit station.
Spaces in the Cornforth-Campbell lot at 115 2nd St. S.E. are reserved for Sound Transit commuters, but perhaps the city could open them to downtown merchants once commuter spots become available at the fairgrounds, Malloy said.
“Do we want that parking to continue to be for commuters?” Malloy asked Monday. “I want to get some more information and have some discussion about that.”
Melissa Santos: 253-552-7058
melissa.santos@thenewstribune.com
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