Falcon Heights floats plan to charge for street parking during State Fair

Falcon Heights is considering a plan that would require drivers to pay to park on some city streets during the Minnesota State Fair.

The Falcon Heights City Council took the first step Wednesday to move the idea forward by approving a measure to modify city ordinance to allow for e-meters.

The council also voted to explore a contract with ParkMobile, the vendor that provides app-based parking services in Minneapolis, St. Paul and Rochester.

A final decision hasn’t been made, said City Administrator Jack Linehan during Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

“This is one step of many,” Linehan said. “If we do go down this path, there will be further action from the city. We are still building this.”

The proposal calls for the city to charge $25 a day for those who park on streets in the Northome and Northeast neighborhoods during the 12 days of the fair. Residents living along the affected streets would be given one pass per household, allowing them to park for free as they do the rest of the year.

The proposed change, which city officials said could bring in $100,000 to $200,000 in revenue for Falcon Heights, got mixed reviews from residents.

Sue Majerus raised concerns about family members or friends having to pay the fee to visit.

“One parking spot doesn’t do it for me,” she said. And when the mail carrier comes, “I hope he doesn’t have to pay $25 to park there.”

Others such as Bob Haight, who has lived in Falcon Heights since 1991, supported the idea.

“Falcon Heights has served as a parking lot for the fair,” he said. “I strongly support this resolution. It can’t happen soon enough.”

The Ramsey County city that is home to the fairgrounds has been exploring the charge-for-parking idea for “quite a while,” Linehan said. A task force was assembled to study it.

“We get wear and tear on our streets,” said task force member Georgiana May. “We have the expense of adding porta-potties. We spend money on extra police. We don’t get compensated from the State Fair for these expenses.”

Some who spoke at Wednesday’s meeting said the charge would add an expense for people with low incomes looking to keep a visit to the fair affordable. Others said the city should make money off the fair. Some wanted to know whether the money would help offset street assessments or result in lower taxes.

City officials hope, if enacted, that e-meters would improve parking compliance. The neighborhoods have about 800 spaces where e-meters would be used.

Under the terms of the potential contract, Falcon Heights would keep $20 of the $25 collected, with the remainder going to ParkMobile.

“As two former mayors said, it has been an ongoing struggle for this city to get adequate reimbursement from the State Fair,” said Council Member Paula Mielke. “It’s never going to happen. This is a way to cover costs and ideally create a revenue stream” separate from property taxes, she said.

For now, the city would use e-meters only during the State Fair, but the ordinance could be amended annually to allow for their use with other events such as car shows.

The City Council could take up the discussion at its next meeting, April 2.