Published July 15, 2011, 12:00 AM
Downtown parking talk turns to study of future needs in Willmar, Minn.

WILLMAR — Talk of a parking ramp for downtown Willmar has been shelved, at least for now.
By: Anne Polta, Associated Press

WILLMAR — Talk of a parking ramp for downtown Willmar has been shelved, at least for now. Instead, the discussion has turned toward the overall parking needs of the city’s central business district and nearby neighborhoods. The new proposal: Conduct an analysis of current and projected parking needs for the downtown area. “It’s a major discussion that needs to occur,” Ron Erpelding, chairman of the Kandiyohi County and City of Willmar Economic Development Commission, said at a meeting Thursday of the EDC’s joint operations board.

The Willmar Design Center, which helped initiate the parking ramp discussion earlier this summer, also favors a broader study of downtown parking needs, said Bev Dougherty, a member of the EDC operating board and project manager for the nonprofit design center. “We would like to see long-range planning,” she said.

Board members voted Thursday to recommend an analysis of current and future downtown parking needs. The recommendation, which came from the EDC’s business retention, expansion and recruitment committee, will be forwarded to the joint powers board for consideration at a meeting on July 28.

Steve Renquist, executive director of the Economic Development Commission, also was authorized to meet with the Willmar City Council’s Community Development Committee and with Rice Memorial Hospital officials to further discuss the need for a study.

A downtown parking ramp has been eyed several times over the past couple of decades as one of the solutions for easing chronic parking problems, especially in the neighborhood surrounding Rice Memorial Hospital.

Each of these discussions fizzled out, however. In the meantime, the hospital also acquired more property south of Trott Avenue for parking, as well as expanded its on-site parking.

Reaction was mixed when the parking ramp concept was revived once more this year. The Willmar Design Center backed the idea. Rice Hospital also was prepared to pay half the cost of a $30,000 preliminary study, and the Economic Development Commission was considering following suit when the Willmar City Council intervened, passing a motion late last month that no public money should be spent on a parking ramp study.

The council’s move essentially put the proposal back at square one.

If there is to be any action involving downtown parking, a study of the overall needs appears to be the best place to start, Erpelding said Thursday. “Then see what, if anything, has to occur.”

Plans to bring more businesses to downtown Willmar, along with downtown housing development, are expected to trigger increased demand for eight- to 10-hour parking or longer, Dougherty said. “The big need is long-term parking options.”

It’s also time to rethink the design of the traditional parking structure and consider facilities that incorporate retail space or possibly even housing along with parking, she said.