Casper Council Continues Process to Permit Parking on Parkway

At the Casper City Council meeting on Tuesday, the council heard from several members of the public about issues they have with the proposed fee for people to park on the Parkway.

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This was the first reading of three for the change to the city ordinance that would implement the fines for people parking where they are not supposed to, with a separate resolution being decided to determine what pay rate if any, there should be for people getting a permit.

The four people that came up to the council all voiced their opposition to the proposed $100 fee and $25 yearly fee which would also allow people who own that spot legal recourse if someone parks in their spot, as that is currently not an option.

Dave Thomas, someone who came up to speak about the parking, said he is on a fixed income of $1,300 a month and wouldn't be able to afford the fee.

Councilmember Bruce Knell initially said that it is necessary for the city to charge a fee so that they can cover the cost of the permitting process, but later changed his mind.

Knell said later that because of how many people are illegally parked on the Parkway, the amount of money the city would make from ticketing would offset the cost to the city of the permitting process.

Carter Napier, Casper city manager, said that due to the number of people involved in the process of collecting a ticket fee, the city would have a hard time making money off tickets.

Councilmember Kyle Gamroth said that because in the trial run of the permitting process, where the cost was $250 for a permit, they only had two people sign up, it seems unlikely that there will be enough people that will sign up, meaning the city wouldn't have to cover a large cost.

Mike Pyatt, who also came up to speak about parking, said that the city could wave the cost of the permitting fee for people that had been there for a long amount of time through a type of grandfather clause.

However, John Henley, the attorney for the city of Casper, said that doing that would be unconstitutional due to the inherent discrimination it would entail.

At the end of the discussion, Knell, Gamroth, and Mayor Ray Pacheco said they appreciate citizens coming to the council to discuss issues they have and hope those same people will come to the council at future readings for the ordinance to continue providing their insight.