By Anne Holzman
At a workshop in early April attended by their State Fair Task Force, the Falcon Heights City Council discussed some residents’ concerns about a plan to charge for parking on city streets during the State Fair.
City leaders are expected to sign a contract with ParkMobile in time for this year’s fair. The electronic parking system is flexible regarding fees and zones, with several ways to offer residents free or reduced rates.
These and other choices will come before the council in the weeks ahead.
Parking revenues would fund “ambassadors” who would circulate on the zoned streets identifying vehicles not registered to park and also helping direct pedestrians to and from the fair.
“For me, this is about public safety,” Mayor Randy Gustafson said at the workshop meeting.
The city has also added extra trash pickup and a portable latrine in recent years and seeks to recover those costs of around $75,000.
“Behaviors changed during the pandemic,” Gustafson said, referring to State Fair parking. “Everybody’s cruising around our streets (now during the fair) looking for free parking.”
Council member Eric Meyer said he buys a ticket just like other fairgoers.
“As much as I love the Fair, I don’t feel it’s my duty to subsidize it,” he said. On the other hand, he acknowledged, “we don’t want to pay to park in front of our own house.”
Parking patterns logged last summer during the fair suggest that fees of up to $25 per day could far exceed the city’s expenses. That would leave room for the city to offer parking passes to residents; the questions at the workshop mainly concerned how many passes to issue, how to distribute them and how to limit resales and possible other misuses of them.
Council member Melanie Leehy said one concern about charging for street parking during the fair is that people using services such as home health care need parking for their visitors.
Council member Jim Wassenberg added he’s heard from residents who want to be able to offer free parking for family and friends, but not every day. A pass that might be used for several days would still leave openings on other days for paid public parking.
Meyer presented scenarios for revenues in three neighborhoods near the Fairgrounds, using different fee rates. He also looked at codes versus hang tags as a means of signifying resident passes. The tags cost money to produce but have the advantage that the city already uses tags in resident-only parking zones during the fair and has systems in place for those.
After about an hour and a half discussion, the council directed the task force to consider how many passes should be issued per household and how much are residents likely use them. 
Anne Holzman is a Twin Cities freelance writer who covers city government news for the Bugle.
