Des Moines council members had difficulty during their Sept. 22 meeting deciding whether paid parking should be extended in the City to generate additional revenue.

During a presentation of a parking revenue analysis for the Redondo Marina, Harbormaster Joe Dusenbury noted that the marina started pay-for-parking at the boat ramp parking lot after the Des Moines annexed the Redondo area.

Until 2004, he continued, the marina used a drop box to collect parking fees from boaters using the ramp. Parking revenue was $20,000 to $25,000 per year.

After the lot was reconfigured and single vehicles were charged to park there, revenues more than doubled, he said

Based on that success, city staff has suggested three areas where paid parking, including right-of-way parking, could produce: Redondo, the north Des Moines Marina lot, and Beach Park.

"Beach Park is problematic because there are three separate parking areas," Dusenbury added. "You would have to go with multiple [meters] or have a drop-box system."

It would be too difficult, he explained, to have one pay station where enforcement would be a major concern.

Parking revenue opportunities in Redondo are more straightforward, he said.

"One of the issues we discovered concerning a payment station at Redondo is that [people] who have been parking there for years and even newcomers don't expect to pay to park.

"So one of the challenges of having a payment station is you have to have extensive signage so people will know they have to pay."

But Councilwoman Susan White noted, "People in downtown Seattle are getting it and it's the same thing at the airport.

"This is where [the trend] is going. I don't believe that people will not get it."

A better alternative, Dusenbury concluded, would be the installation of parking meters, which he said would be fairly easy off the right-of-way parking in Redondo.

"I want to charge for parking. I think it's the right thing to do," Councilman Dan Sherman said.

However, Sherman said, "I'm questionable about the use of parking meters The City of Seattle got rid of them for a variety of reasons."

"Paid parking in the marina's north lot is very practical from a revenue standpoint," Dusenbury continued, but not in the south lot.

Mayor Bob Sheckler then brought up a policy discussion the council had last year concerning the Marina and Beach Park.

"This is what we should be discussing right now," declared Sheckler, because the policy question has been left open as to whether the city should have paid parking at Redondo - not what type of method should be used.

"We haven't answered that question yet,' he said.

Councilman Scott Thomasson suggested that implementing a paid parking system in the north lot would not generate the revenue the city expects.

"I can see a real problem with having paid parking to the north, but not in the south lot," agreed Councilman Gary Petersen.

"People will say, 'Well, I'll go down and park on the south side.'

"'Then boat owners are going to say, 'Why don't I have any parking on the south side when I pay a lot of money to park my boat?' It is going to create confusion," he said.

Dusenbury observed that the only way the city will generate the needed revenue is to find a way for everybody who uses the facility to pay something - including patrons at Anthony's restaurant.

"That is going to be a very difficult situation."

He explained that the reciprocal agreement between the restaurant owner, who owns part of the lot, and the city states that Anthony's customers have a right to use the south lot for free.

"When they block off their lot for [events], they are obligated to take our tenants on their lot, and they do," Dusenbury added.

He also noted that several years ago, property owners gave the city their tidelands for moorage in exchange for an extension of the marina in front of their property.

The owners "understand our situation, but naturally they don't want to do anything that may have an impact on their business," said Dusenbury.

"So it's going to take quite a bit of negotiating."

In addition to this challenge, Councilwoman Maggie Steenrod said that from an economic development perspective, Anthony's is a destination location.

"We want to be very careful before we go adversely affecting things that bring people into our city," she said.

Council members remanded the parking analysis back to city staff for further review.