Downtown Parking Management Updates

To make sure people with disabilities are accommodated, Parking Services met with the Disability Advisory Board in November 2025.

No final decisions have been made, but the City is considering two options for drivers with an ADA plate or placard parking in paid on-street spaces:

• Reduced parking fees
• Extended time limits (up to six hours instead of the proposed four hours)

In time-regulated (non-paid) spaces, the current rule would stay the same: drivers with an ADA plate or placard can park without a time limit in most public street parking areas.

The goal of the proposed downtown parking updates is to improve access to businesses and make it easier for customers to find convenient parking—not to discourage visits.

Today, Fort Collins has what’s often called an “upside-down” system: the most convenient on-street spaces are free, while garages cost money. This leads to people circling for free curbside spots, which increases congestion and actually makes it harder for customers to find parking near their destination.

The updated approach is designed to address that by supporting turnover and availability in high-demand areas. Key measures include:

• Encouraging short-term parking near businesses: Paid on-street parking helps ensure spaces turn over more frequently, so customers can more reliably find a spot for quick visits like shopping or dining.
• Shifting longer stays to garages and lots: By better aligning pricing and availability, the system encourages employees and long-term parkers to use garages or surface lots, keeping prime curbside spaces open for customers.
• Improving wayfinding and ease of use: The City is prioritizing clearer signage, better parking information, and tools to help visitors quickly find available parking—reducing confusion and time spent searching.
• Providing flexible, customer-friendly payment options: Options like pay stations and mobile payment are intended to make parking more convenient and accessible for visitors.
• Engaging with downtown businesses and the community: The City is actively gathering feedback from business owners and stakeholders to refine the program and ensure it supports a vibrant downtown economy.

Overall, the intent is to create a system where customers can more easily access downtown destinations, employees have appropriate parking options, and businesses benefit from increased turnover and foot traffic. Many peer cities have found that this type of approach helps support—rather than hinder—a healthy downtown business environment when implemented thoughtfully.

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• Provide public comment or contact City staff directly with questions

Thanks for the question. Scottsdale is often mentioned because parking in Old Town is generally free to users. However, it’s important to remember that parking is never truly free — it always has a cost. The difference is simply who pays for it and how.

In Scottsdale, the City funds construction, maintenance, and enforcement of downtown parking through broader city revenues and bond funding rather than charging users at the meter. In other words, residents and taxpayers support the parking system indirectly through the city budget.

If Fort Collins chose to make all downtown parking free to users, we would still need to cover those same costs — building and maintaining garages, enforcement, snow removal, lighting, repairs, technology, etc. That funding would have to come from other sources such as sales tax, property tax, or reductions in other services.

That raises a policy question:

Should the general public — including residents who don’t park downtown — subsidize the full cost of downtown parking? Or should a portion of the cost be paid directly by the people who use it?

Both approaches are valid policy choices, but they have different implications. 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.

As we evaluate parking options in Fort Collins, these funding trade-offs are an important part of the discussion.

Thank you for your thoughtful question — and welcome to Fort Collins. We appreciate hearing your perspective on Old Town and its vibrancy.

City Council and staff recognize how important convenient access is to maintaining a healthy downtown. As part of ongoing parking discussions, the City has completed detailed studies and peer comparisons to understand how Fort Collins’ current model — including free two-hour on-street parking — performs relative to other communities and how it supports turnover, access and downtown activity. Those studies show that while accessible parking is an important piece of the experience, Old Town’s vibrancy is driven by a broader mix of factors: walkable design, a concentration of local businesses and cultural destinations, year-round programming and events and strong connections to nearby neighborhoods and institutions. In other words, parking policy influences how people access downtown, but it is only one component of a larger ecosystem that contributes to its success.

As the City evaluates potential updates to parking management, Council and staff are working to balance convenience, turnover, long-term sustainability and the overall health of Old Town. Community input — including perspectives like yours — is an important part of that process.

Thank you again for taking the time to share your observations.

We hear this concern, and it’s an important one.

The intent of paid parking downtown isn’t to make access harder or to push people away — it’s to make it easier for more people to find a space when they need one. 

With the currently proposed updates only the most in-demand, on-street spaces in the downtown core would be paid. Free parking would still be available nearby, within a short walk of downtown destinations. We’re also planning a grace period for quick stops, so people picking up food, running short errands or making deliveries aren’t penalized.

We recognize that any change can affect people differently based on their needs. That’s why this approach is designed to improve turnover, help customers find parking more reliably and support downtown businesses by increasing foot traffic — not reducing it.

The City will closely monitor how the changes affect access, affordability and business activity, and we’ll stay engaged with downtown businesses and the community. If we see unintended impacts or barriers, we’re committed to adjusting the program to better meet community needs.

We looked at making garage parking free while charging for on-street parking, but decided against it. If garages were free, they'd likely fill up more quickly, which could create backups and make it harder for people to get in and out. It could also limit parking availability for downtown employees and residents who rely on garage parking.

Keeping both on-street and garage parking paid helps reduce confusion and makes the system more consistent and predictable for everyone.

Thank you for sharing your observations and suggestions about signage and free Sunday parking! We’ll include your comments as part of the project feedback that will help guide future decisions.

There will be no traditional parking meters - only pay stations. There will be two pay stations per block. Payments can be made at the pay stations via cash or card, or via the ParkMobile app from a smartphone. We've received significant feedback emphasizing the importance of preserving the character and charm of Old Town, and will explore ways to ensure the pay stations are installed in a manner that respects and maintains that character.

The parking garages will remain $1 per hour with the first hour free, and free on Sundays.

Thank you for your question! Paid parking brings several benefits to the community and supports the City’s long-term goals.

1. It makes parking easier to find.

Based on our monitoring data we've found that many people move their car every two hours to avoid a ticket. This means spaces stay full even though the time limit is supposed to create turnover. Paid parking encourages people who want to stay longer to use the parking garages instead. This frees up more on-street spaces for short, quick visits. The result: People can usually find a spot faster and closer to the businesses they want to visit.

2. It keeps our parking system in good shape without using tax dollars.

Money from paid parking will help maintain and improve the City’s parking garages and lots. Today, major repairs or upgrades often depend on the City's general fund, which all taxpayers pay into—whether they use downtown parking or not. With paid parking, the people who use the parking system will cover its costs. Any extra revenue can support things that make downtown more enjoyable, such as landscaping, events, public art, garage beautification, ADA upgrades and discounted parking for people who need it.

3. It supports safer, cleaner, and more efficient transportation.

Paid parking encourages more people to consider other ways of getting downtown, like transit, biking or walking. This helps reduce traffic from people circling for free spots, which makes the streets safer and cuts down on emissions. More transit use also helps Transfort qualify for better grants, which can improve bus service over time.

In short: Paid parking helps keep downtown vibrant, easier to access, financially sustainable and more welcoming for everyone.