Snider Plaza Employee Parking Task Force

For decades, Snider Plaza has been a hub of activity, drawing in locals and visitors alike with its charming shops, restaurants and vibrant atmosphere. However, amid the hustle and bustle lies a persistent problem that has plagued the area since the 1950s: parking.

As a matter of fact, the following quote is from a University Park Commission Meeting on September 4, 1956 - “Practically all of the people whose names appear above urged the City Commission to immediately institute a rigid enforcement of the 2 hour parking limit in the area, however, those present all readily agreed that the problem confronting them was employees and employees parking their personal automobiles on the Plaza and taking up valuable space that was originally intended for customer parking.” During recent public hearings for the Snider Plaza improvements project, the City Council was presented with information showing that employee parking within the Plaza remains an ongoing problem, with as many as 230 of the shopping center’s 400 parking spaces occupied by employees of Snider Plaza businesses.  

In an effort to tackle this ongoing challenge, City Council appointed a task force in November 2023 to study parking options for employees in Snider Plaza. Comprised of nine members including Snider Plaza merchants, property owners, and residents, the task force spent months analyzing data and exploring potential solutions. Additionally, the task force held stakeholder meetings in May 2024 to gather feedback from business, property owners, and residents.

The Snider Plaza Employee Parking Task Force presented its recommendations to the City Council at the 5 p.m. meeting on Tuesday, June 4. City Council voted to postpone consideration of the recommendations. 

The recommendations included a proposal for the implementation of a paid parking model for all public spaces (Snider Plaza & Hillcrest) at a rate of $3/hour, with no charge to park for less than first 15 minutes.

Additional recommendations included:

• Utilize revenue from paid parking to fund offsite parking for all employees of Snider Plaza.
• Hire a parking management company to provide continuous parking enforcement throughout Snider Plaza during normal business hours.
• Resident Parking District – establish a resident parking district in the residential neighborhood just west of Snider Plaza (area bounded by Lovers, Dickens, Daniel, and alley on west side of Snider Plaza). 
• Snider Plaza Advisory Board – establish a full-time advisory board that is responsible for monitoring effectiveness of the Snider Plaza parking program and oversight of any excess revenue.
• Establish rules and regulations for regular deliveries to businesses. Create designated areas during off hours to encourage deliveries – otherwise deliveries to occur from commercial alleys. 

If you would like to learn more about how we got here, David Rejebian, Chair of the Snider Plaza Employee Parking Task Force presented the preliminary recommendations to Council on April 16.