Parking Rules Shift: Kalispell Tightens Street Space and Fines

Kalispell city leaders are set to change how downtown parking works, aiming to free up street spots for shoppers and visitors. The plan comes after a report highlighted that parking shortages might be turning people away from the town’s main shopping area.

Council Meeting Highlights

Parking Advisory Board Suggestions
Raise parking fines
Install license‑plate reader technology for enforcement vehicles
Offer unlimited free permits to business owners
Convert Main Street’s on‑street parking into 90‑minute zones
Allow nonprofit groups to use city lots on weekends
Technology Adoption
Most councilors backed the tech purchase.
The new system will enable officers to spot violations more quickly than the old chalk‑mark method, which checked a spot only every four hours.
City Manager Jarod Nygren expects equipment to be operational by mid‑summer.
Enforcement and Fines
Councilor Dustin Leftridge, who supports stricter enforcement, joked about moving his car every two hours to avoid a $10 ticket.
The advisory board recommends a $20 ticket, with some members wanting even higher fines.
With the new readers, a single vehicle could receive multiple tickets in one day.

Permit Lots Strategy
The strategy aims to shift street‑parkers into the city’s permit lots, which are often full or sold out.
Councilor Kyle Waterman admitted that even though he holds a permit for the Eagles Lot, he still parks on Main Street.
Current permit costs range from $18 to about $30 a month, a figure some councilors find too low.
Wes Walker called the fees “laughable” and urged that parking should be paid for, while Mayor Ryan Hutner agreed free permits send the wrong message.
Other Parking Considerations
The council debated opening the Valley Bank lot, which is mostly empty but generates significant revenue from high‑demand permits.
Most members were reluctant to make it free public parking.
Sid Daoud proposed eliminating time‑restricted parking on Main Street and the First Avenues entirely, replacing it with meters along the main road. He also suggested opening all permit lots to the public for free, arguing that monitoring spots through law enforcement is too costly.
Implementation Outlook
While some officials see the need for paid parking as Kalispell grows, they say meters are premature.
Leftridge stressed that a short‑term plan is necessary.
Hunter, another council member, noted the changes are not final and could be tweaked based on data: “We’ll try something, check the results, and adjust.”

Overall Goal

The city’s parking overhaul aims to balance convenience for visitors with fair use of limited street space, hoping that tighter enforcement and higher fees will encourage drivers to opt for permit lots instead of the street.

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