No decision Tuesday from the Yakima City Council on a plan to create paid parking in the downtown area. Downtown business owners on Tuesday presented a plan to the council to "fund parking lot maintenance with monthly parking permits and dedicated parking enforcement while preserving free parking for customers that visit downtown."

THE CITY MANAGER WANTS ALL LOTS AND ON STREET PARKING PAID PARKING

The plan from Yakima City Manager Bob Harrison is much different. His plan calls for paid parking in downtown lots and on street parking from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday through Saturday with free parking on Sundays. The city proposes using an app and charging stations to allow people to pay for the parking. The proposed cost is $1 per hour. Currently parking is free for 2 hours in the downtown parking lots but city officials say there's little if no enforcement.

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THE DOWNTOWN BUSINESS PLAN WILL INCREASE ENFORCEMENT

Mann says the downtown business plan would increase enforcement to make sure spots are available in downtown and crack down on violators who park cars on city streets for extended periods of time. City council members on Tuesday decided to table the issue for now. They plan to speak with members of the Downtown Association of Yakima to see what the association thinks about the plan by business owners. Mann tells KIT News "no decisions yet but it looks like our plan was well received by council members."
Officials from DAY were not available for comment today.

DON'T MISS OUR CONVERSATION WITH THE CITY MANAGER FRIDAY

No date was set for when the council will once again talk about the issue but it's expected to happen in the near future. Yakima City Manager Bob Harrison is set to speak about city issues and downtown parking on Good Morning Yakima Friday, June 9 at 8:15 am on KIT.

OTHER CITY COUNCIL BUSINESS ON TUESDAY INCLUDED TALK ABOUT CRUISING AND A REGIONAL FIRE AUTHORITY

Council members held off on proposed changes to the Yakima cruising ordinance including changing the time and barring semi-trucks and semi-truck cabs from participating.
The council also talked about the possibility of establishing a Regional Fire Authority saying they're waiting to hire a firm to give the city cost estimates and to see if other fire districts in the area would be interested in joining a RFA. It's an issue that would ultimately be decided by voters if the council every backed the proposal to place different fire districts under on Regional Fire Authority.

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