Mayor Outlines Cherry Creek North Parking Plan

"The Cherry Creek North retail district is one of the most vibrant and successful retail districts in our city,'' he adds. ''As council members know from issues that have crossed your desks in the past, making parking available to the retail district's customers is important to the businesses there and ultimately to Denver's revenues."

Webb, working with Councilman Ed Thomas, the Cherry Creek Business Improvement district, and nearby neighborhoods, unveils these proposals:

* The city will purchase additional parking capacity of 200 spaces at the site of the planned Sears redevelopment. This will be publicly accessible parking requiring user payments--the city anticipates the garage will be used largely by local employees.

* The city will install "kiosk" type parking meters throughout the area; there will be no more free on-street parking. The result of this metering will be to create turnover and make available more parking for customers of Cherry Creek businesses, and to provide revenues to finance the purchase of the garage space. The fees charged by the parking garage will not be adequate to cover the debt incurred by the city for their construction.

* The city will implement residential permit parking for streets adjacent to Cherry Creek, to prevent employees of Cherry Creek businesses from parking on these streets. The Business Improvement District will assist the city in implementing this system to make it as convenient as possible for area residents.

* Parking kiosk revenues derived from the customers of retailers and restaurants in the area, beyond those needed to purchase the garage, will flow to the city's general fund budget. However, because of the unique circumstances of this situation, including the severity and potential economic impact upon the city because of the parking problem, the city will commit some portion of this surplus to other steps to help resolve parking and traffic problems in the area.

"This plan is somewhat different than, and improves upon, the proposal discussed with council's finance committee April 3," Webb says. "It does not contemplate future acquisition or construction of a second garage to accommodate additional employees displaced by the installation of parking kiosks. Instead it relies upon efforts of the Business Improvement District and retailers themselves, with cooperation from the city, to identify alternatives to current employee parking and transportation patterns."