Downtown Parking Management Updates
The City of Fort Collins is proposing updates to the downtown parking system to make it financially sustainable, fair and easier to use.
This webpage is the official source of information from the City of Fort Collins about updates to the downtown parking system, along with other official City of Fort Collins communications channels.
Current Parking System Model
Today, downtown Fort Collins has an “upside down” system:
- The closest street parking is free with a 2-hour limit.
- Nearby City-owned garages cost $1 per hour, with the first hour free.
- With ongoing maintenance requirements, the three City garages operate at a financial loss.
This creates an imbalance. The most convenient spaces — directly in front of businesses — are free, while garages a short walk away require payment. Naturally, as a result of that upside down model, the on-street parking availability becomes overcrowded with users wanting to park close to their destination, and the paid parking revenue doesn't cover the cost of maintaining and operating the parking system as a whole.
As downtown continues to grow, this model isn't financially sustainable. It also limits turnover in high-demand areas, making it harder for customers to find convenient parking.
How Free Parking Works and How We Fund It
Free parking is never truly free — the cost is simply paid in less visible ways. When parking is offered at no charge, someone still pays to build it, maintain it and manage it. Those costs are often absorbed into local tax structures (higher rents, higher prices for goods and services), public subsidies or deferred maintenance.
A fully “free” model shifts costs broadly across the community. A user-paid model aligns costs more directly with usage and can reduce pressure on general tax revenues.
Fort Collins currently operates with free on-street parking and a user-paid model in its parking garages, charging only those who use garage parking. But due to the “upside down” model of the paid parking system, parking revenue from the City’s parking garages isn’t fully funding the City’s parking system.
Based on feedback from the community as well as the City’s consultants, the City is recommending a variety of changes to its parking system, including implementing paid on-street parking.
What’s Changing: Near-Team
Anticipated near-term changes include:
Beginning March 23, 2026: Moving to six day per week, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. enforcement of on-street parking.
Beginning Sept. 1, 2026, pending City Manager's approval: Increasing fines for parking violations
Beginning Sept. 1, 2026, pending City Manager's approval: Removing the City’s current “Courtesy Notice” for first-time violations, implementing a fine
Increasing options for downtown parking permits, including employee parking permits for employees of downtown businesses
Installing better parking enforcement mechanisms in the City’s parking garages
A managed parking system is essential to supporting a thriving downtown. The City is working with all stakeholders in downtown Fort Collins to ensure the solutions implemented are the best possible solutions for everyone.
What’s Changing: Long-Term
A map of the City’s proposed updates to downtown parking, including a new proposed paid parking zone shown in purple. All parking, including street, lot and garage parking, inside the purple zone would have an associated fee.
More specific details about the City’s proposed parking updates will be provided following additional meetings with City Council. Any expansion of paid parking downtown as a part of these updates is expected to be implemented in 2027 or 2028.
What We Heard From the Community
Since October 2025, the City has hosted Open House events, public engagement tables in Old Town Square, focused engagement events with downtown businesses and stakeholders, and online engagement on this webpage.
Common themes we heard:
Concern about impacts to small businesses
Concern about employee parking
Questions about enforcement practices
Questions about financial transparency
Interest in fair pricing and turnover
Concern about long-term infrastructure costs
The final recommendation reflects this feedback, including updates to enforcement practices, technology improvements and financial transparency.
FAQs
We've answered our most frequently asked questions (FAQs) from the community in the Project Updates section below (see: FAQs) with detailed feedback.
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I don't want to park in the parking structure because walking alone into a parking structure feels like I'll be mugged. It feel safer on a street where I can be seen by others. There is no indication that there are security features in the structure.
I would enjoy a meter system that could be paid hands free- tap from my phone or pre- paid card.Many in my generation (born 1955) think of meters as a clunky inconvenience. Something no effort - similar to tolls or subway cards that offer customers many online optional day, monthly or yearly passes. Less oppressive approach, be customer customer friendly! Build it right snd we will come! Online accounts become a lifestyle choice. Discounts tiers in place - fill up a meter card or license plate reader on each meter. I don't even think about my toll notices. My card just auto fills through my bank. Now,:people may boycott oldtown. Midtown & others will advertise free parking. A danger is lossing customers & seeing a down turn in our vibrant downtown. This could be a badly needed boon for Midtown. Tred carefully in your approach. It feels like another fee added = fewer residents due to cost of living. Sell the garages or build incentives for thier usage!
Charging for downtown parking is foolish. Good job looking to kill downtown and drive people to shop and eat elsewhere
I fully support paid on street parking. It doesn’t make any sense that the most convenient parking is free and the garages are not. This will not “devastate” local businesses, but likely the opposite. It will mean more close parking would be available for customers. It’s ridiculous all the resistance to paying $1/hour for parking. I’ve never seen any city with such low rates. Make the on street parking cost more than the garage parking.
I’ve been seeing all the pushback on the proposed paid on street parking and decided that I should offer a different perspective. I fully support this. It’s not logical that the most convenient parking is free and the garage parking is not. On street parking should cost more per hour than the parking garages.
The future decision to charge for on street parking means everyone will choose anything other than downtown Every other space in Ft Collins is free It is incredibly disappointing that the only place you charge for parking/access is in Old Town After living here for over 20 years on the North side of FOCO I’m really discouraged you are charging for access to the best part of our city Families will choose other free options when costs are already too much everywhere just really disappointing this is happening I have read all the articles but don’t know why you are choosing this now Support families Don’t charge to access Old Town
From the tone of this one sided presentation, I am convinced tour logic would transfer all city functions to user fees, which, like parking, run at a deficit. How much of a deficit can we reduce by charging users for public safety? For fire protection? The downtown is the major reason why we moved to FoCo and you are intent on destroying it. Perhaps by doing so you intend to solve the population growth you see as such a burden.
Our downtown during the day is very vibrant with shoppers. Having paid parking on the street would not guarantee more and easier parking or more people choosing to enjoy downtown. How about if we had the 2-hour parking free during the day till 5, for people who want to shop, drop things off quickly, go to the park for a bit with the kids, enjoy the library, whatever ...and then at night time when people might want to have dinner or longer time in a bar that's when the parking on the street becomes paid for longer hours?
Excellent! End the communist parking regime! Please bundle this with ending the unfunded mandate for minimum parking citywide (repeal city code 5.9.1(k)). For those that want free, 2-hour parking, the map shows it within 1 or 2 blocks of all of the proposed areas. This proposal seems to just affect the places I usually have to drive past to get a parking spot outside of anyway.
Charging for on street parking is a good idea and long overdue. I'd love for the city to focus on this part of Old Town as a pedestrian area!
Hi there!
I am a resident of Fort Collins and I want to say I strongly oppose paid street parking. One of my favorite things about the city is the affordable ability to access old town shops and support local businesses. I fear I would have to spend less time in old town if paid parking was required. I love this city and would love for it to remain accessible.
Thank you for your consideration!
2-hour parking makes Old Town feel more accessible to everyone. It relieves the stress of needing to make a payment on an app or at a kiosk, especially for short trips. We have a plethora of paid parking options nearby, we don’t need more paid parking.
Keep it simple. We don't need to make it complicated to park a car. There are already paid parking garages if people are okay with that, for the street parking stick with free parking. I fear you are looking at the revenue you can generate with the parking fees and not looking at the barrier this adds to utilize old town businesses which will hurt the businesses and therefore drop the city's tax revenue. Keep it simple, don't overthink this!
I’m opposed to parking fees in old town. Please leave it as is so our senior citizens/elderly parents can easily come and go without being afraid of parking apps/payment scamming or suffering from reduced mobility that makes getting to centralized meters/back to cars on time difficult. You have other options such as additional fees on hotels/tourism while making the city work for its residents. You work for the residents, please keep that in mind as you find a better solution.
This impacts independent small business...we already have enough pressure for people to shop at big box stores...ENOUGH!!! MY TAXES PAY FOR THE STREETS...WHICH I AM HAPPY TO DO....keep your hands off people's hopes and choices.
Strongly oppose the idea of paid parking for downtown FoCo. It is a traditional practice to allow the public free access to local businesses.
This proposal does nothing to support our Small Business Owners or the Locals who shop downtown to support friends and neighbors. This is not a community based proposition.
Free downtown parking makes it easy to patron all the local business concentrated in Old Town instead of the chain business down near where I live. Removing 2 hr free parking will drive customers like me to do more business at these larger franchises that can afford their own parking lots instead of local small businesses that are the lifeblood of what makes Fort Collins, Fort Collins, in all its unique charm
This is a step you can’t come back from. Do not do this.
Keep old town parking free in fort.Collins!!!
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2006 Downtown Strategic Plan (50.7 MB) (pdf)
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2013 Parking Plan (10.4 MB) (pdf)
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2014 TOD Parking Study (6.02 MB) (pdf)
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2017 Downtown Plan (28.7 MB) (pdf)
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2025 DRAFT Parking Study Implementation Action plan (5.22 MB) (pdf)
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2026 Fort Collins Pro Forma Analysis (4.09 MB) (pdf)
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2026 City of Fort Collins Downtown Parking Study DRAFT.pdf (27.1 MB) (pdf)
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