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The Danville Town Council unanimously OK’d the 2010 Downtown Parking Management Plan at its meeting Jan. 12. The plan is aimed at relieving parking congestion downtown and includes a revised layout for employee parking and a new schedule for hourly parking.
“Our No. 1 priority when someone drives downtown to shop is that they have somewhere to park,” said Town Transportation Director Tai Williams.
The plan is the result of a parking study conducted in 2008. The study determined that while the 1,358 parking spaces available to residents in town are sufficient, there are certain areas and peak periods where street-side parking is at a premium.
The study also showed that a large number of the parking spaces in the congested areas are being taken up by employees of downtown businesses.
The newly approved plan will split the downtown into three zones, with the highest congestion zone costing $50 per employee permit, while the other two zones will remain $25. In addition, the plan will adjust hourly parking zones to better reflect the needs of the businesses in those areas. The permit fees will take effect March 1, and until then 2009 permits will be honored.
Implementation of the plan will cost $15,000, available from fiscal year 2009-10 Contingency Funds. There will be a one-time cost for materials and labor to install the parking signs, and an annual cost of $10,000 for the online parking permit purchasing and management system.
Future costs will be recovered through the sale of downtown employee parking permits with the new fee structure, according to the plan.
Mayor Mike Doyle said they have been studying parking in town for some time and he’s excited to have a plan that has the support not only of town staff but business owners as well.
“This is going to really work, not only for the shop owners, but for the employees and everyone in town,” said Doyle. “It will be really beneficial to get everyone to come downtown and shop locally.”
Although the vote was unanimous, there were still concerns. One was the multiple changes to the parking permits that were suggested, which include a fully online distribution method and a replacement of the current placard with a sticker system.
For a map of the new hourly zones and the employee permit zones, go to www.ci.danville.ca.us.




Dear Dolores,
Until there is a reason for volumes of shoppers to visit Danville’s rejuvenation for anchor stores, hospitality, and commercial operations, there is no reason for more parking. Parking is part of business district planning that matches retail, hospitality and commercial demand to numbers of expected customers.
May we see the overall rejuvenation planning on your EXPRESS pages?
Hal/CDSI
Yes, do tell
“The study determined that while the 1,358 parking spaces available to residents in town are sufficient, ….”
So no NEW parking!?!
Let’s see. Everything is just fine for all the students at SRVHS….and all the surrounding businesses?
So just “revised layout for employee parking” and “a new schedule for hourly parking.” (whatever that is).
Couldn’t the Express give a clearer and fuller summary of the actual approved Parking Plan!?! What, I’ve got to get in my car and go downtown to the Planning Office to look.
How many of these counted spots are “compact” spots (i.e. insufficient-sized spots leading to more car dents and damages, hassle/stress, and costs for citizens)
How much did this “study” cost us?
Where (what lot location) is it proposed that all the prospective users of the new Senior Center will park? (Still haven’t heard it said by anyone in the know.)
My guess is that parking in Danville will still be insufficient and insufficiently planned for the future.
Looks like we’ll find out.
(Of course, people will just adjust their usage of Danville in accordance with their liking and availability of the parking provided.
Example: I avoid Walnut Creek like the plague whenever possible because of the poor parking experience, payment requirements, and obnoxious enforcement there. Actually, WC’s parking space is OK (almost sufficient)–with nice parking structures everywhere, if you include the private structures–it’s just that you have to pay through the nose to use everything there. I’d rather go to a Mall and free parking.)
It certainly was a travesity of planning to charge us to reduce the street size, jog the street, and remove the bicycle lane for the “parking lot” on Railroad. (Whose botched idea was that? Who didn’t have the guts to put in a nice looking parking structure that would have worked for future generations.)
(Same problem at SRVHS! Wouldn’t it be nice if the School District took care of the parking/commute/drop-off problem BEFORE building new buildings. Students have to get to school before using the school.)
“….. an annual cost of $10,000 for the online parking permit purchasing and management system.”
$10,000 a year to some company to issue parking permit stickers!?!
(There’s Big Govt in action for ya’!)
What do we get for that $10,00 per year? What’s the “management”?
Is the Registration system for Danville Classes in-house or a similar outside annual system with charge?
Maybe that same existing Registration system could be used to purchase parking stickers?
Walnut Creek’s doing just fine and is certainly plenty busy with it’s present parking situation. Keep Danville the way it is. We need no greater hustle and bustle here