Portsmouth and Dover are considering big measures to improve their parking systems, including new garages.

On most days, there is parking to be found near downtown Portsmouth. Even free parking. You just have to know where to look. And, at peak times, you might have to be willing to walk five or 10 minutes to reach your destination.

The same can be said of downtown Dover. And yet, as both cities anticipate an economic recovery that will increase demand for prime parking, they are considering major expansions to their parking infrastructure.

At the center of each city’s plan is a new parking garage. Deciding where a garage should be located, how big it should be, and how to fund its construction are all complicated questions that require years of study.

That’s why Portsmouth hired a parking consultant and conducted a study last year that resulted in a 170-page report on downtown parking supply and demand. The report, released last December, demonstrates the complex science behind parking strategy, which requires balancing the needs of the residents who live here, the employees who work here, and the visitors who shop and dine here.

The report for Portsmouth contains a wide range of recommendations, including building another parking garage, maximizing use of existing spaces, managing private spaces more efficiently, establishing price tiers to encourage remote parking, and improving customer convenience, among other things.

The city is now acting on many of those suggestions. In August, the City Council approved a parking omnibus ordinance that increases the hourly rate at all metered spots in the city from $1 to $1.50, and increases the time limit at metered spots from two to three hours. It also makes the first hour of parking free for all visitors at the High-Hanover Parking Garage (after the first hour, the rate remains 75 cents per hour), and makes the garage free on Sundays for city residents.

As originally written, the ordinance would have gone into effect in a matter of weeks after passing. But, at the request of Councilor Chris Dwyer, the city has delayed enacting the changes until after the New Year.

Dwyer said she suggested the delay to give the city more time to consider the option of a tiered pricing system. Under that system, the rate at “high-priority spots”—on streets where parking demand is high—would increase to $1.50 per hour, while the rate on streets where demand is lower would remain at $1 per hour. The council approved a first reading of the plan during a meeting on Sept. 17, and it will hold a public hearing on the matter during its next meeting on Oct. 1.

The goal of tiered pricing, Dwyer said, is to keep traffic moving in high-priority areas by giving people incentives to park in lower-priority areas.

There is similar logic behind the first-hour-free plan at the parking garage. The idea is designed to “entice people to think about the parking garage and leave the on-street spaces available for others,” Dwyer said.

Making the first hour free at the garage also gives residents a well-deserved break, Dwyer said, enabling them to run a quick errand, grab some takeout from a restaurant or get a cup of coffee without paying a parking fee.

Free parking at the garage on Sundays is also geared toward appeasing residents, many of whom have been miffed about other recent parking developments in Portsmouth, such as enforcement of parking rates at metered spots on Sundays.

Increasing the time limit at metered spaces to three hours has the potential drawback of stifling the flow of traffic in high-priority areas. But Dwyer said there are benefits for both visitors and downtown businesses. That extra hour gives people time to shop at local businesses after dining at a downtown restaurant.

“By the time they’ve eaten at a restaurant it’s probably been two hours, and then to do any kind of retail, to wander around a little bit, they need extra time,” she said.

There are a total of 5,663 on- and off-street parking spaces within a 10-minute walk of downtown Portsmouth. Generally speaking, demand today is relatively low, mainly because of the high commercial vacancy rate due to the economy. The busiest time for parking is on Saturday evenings, when more than 85 percent of on-street spaces are typically occupied. But, even then, more than 1,000 open spaces can usually be found within a 7.5-minute walk, according to the parking report.

Studies in Dover have identified similar trends. The Orchard Street parking lot, located right downtown, is frequently at capacity. But at other outlying parking lots, only 10 to 15 percent of spots are typically filled on weekdays.

“There are certain lots that are underutilized right now,” said planning director Christopher Parker. “For instance, the First Street lot is very, very underutilized during the day. Demand for that lot is not as high as it has been in the past.”

Overall, demand for parking is lower now than it has been historically. Again, that’s because of downtown vacancies resulting from the poor economy. When Liberty Mutual and other large businesses were located downtown, up to 60 percent of parking spaces would be occupied by employees, said parking manager Bill Simons.

“Many times in the past couple of decades we’ve had massive parking crunches,” Simons said. “Right now, today, do we have a huge parking problem? No. But that’s because of the economy... We want to be ahead of the game.”

As the economy recovers and vacancies are filled, however, the city must be prepared for a dramatic boost in demand.

“The need needs to be met so that we’re not only just taking care of existing need, but also anticipating future need,” Parker said.

With that mindset, both Dover and Portsmouth are moving closer to finalizing plans for new parking facilities. On Tuesday, Sept. 25, Portsmouth’s Parking Garage Selection Committee identified the Worth Lot at Vaughan Mall as the ideal site for a new garage. They will soon present that recommendation to the City Council.

The committee’s selection came about a week after it had narrowed its final list of potential sites to three locations: the Worth Lot, the Deer Street lot behind the Sheraton hotel, and the McIntyre Federal Building on Daniel Street. Also originally under consideration were the Parrott Avenue lot, the Bridge Street lot, the parking lot behind the Central Fire Station on Court Street, and the “Masonic lot” at the intersection of Middle Street and Miller Avenue. 

The committee rated all seven potential sites based on a number of criteria. According to Dwyer, a member of the committee, the criteria included proximity to downtown and areas of commerce, the potential capacity of the space, the cost and difficulty of building on the space, and the potential disruption for residents.

Although the committee ultimately opted for the Worth Lot, Dwyer said the city should keep the other locations in mind for the future. Down the line, she said, even more parking garages could eventually be needed.

“I think we need, over a 30-year period, to plan for all three of those sites, and staging them out over a period of time,” she said. “Long-term, I think the development of the Northern Tier is going to require that we need additional parking.”

Demand at the High-Hanover Parking Garage, which has about 900 available spaces, is already high. At peak times, it is frequently at capacity. In August 2010, for example, the garage reached capacity 14 times, according to the parking report.

An advantage of the Worth Lot is that it is already owned by the city, which helps keep the cost down. Also, it is in a prime location, close to the heart of downtown, the Islington Street corridor, and the Northern Tier.

A disadvantage, however, is that space is tight at the Worth Lot. In order to make it work, Dwyer noted, the city would have to acquire additional property, or engage in a public-private partnership with an adjacent property owner.

Officials in Dover face similar considerations as they make plans for their own new parking facility. The city has identified the Orchard Street lot as the best potential location for a new garage with roughly 450 spaces.

The estimated cost of such a facility is about $14 million. The city has committed to covering that cost without using tax dollars from current property owners. Toward achieving that end, the city is considering establishing a tax increment financing district, in which revenue raised from the sale and taxation of property goes directly toward funding a specific city improvement.

Officials in Dover have identified a number of city-owned parking lots that could be sold to developers, including lots on First, Third, School, and Belknap streets. According to Simons, money raised from selling and taxing those lots, combined with regular parking revenue, could cover the cost of a garage.

Of course, any parking lots sold for development must be subtracted from the number of spaces gained by adding a garage. But Parker noted that all the lots under consideration are currently underutilized anyway. The city will only consider a plan that results in a net increase of parking spaces, he said.

“When the existing capacity is calculated, we’ve said the garage has to improve on that capacity,” he said. “We don’t want to be going backwards.”

Simons added that the time to sell underutilized lots is now, when construction prices are low and vacancy rates are high.

“This is the time to do it, not when all the commercial spaces are full,” he said. “So the timing is right for a variety of reasons.”

A bigger problem, he noted, will be compensating for the Orchard Street spaces displaced during construction of the garage. The city hopes to start building a garage by the spring of 2015 and open it by the summer of 2016.

The Planning Department is in the process of drafting a document to enable the tax increment financing district. That proposal will go before the Dover Business and Industrial Development Authority on Oct. 4 and the Parking Commission on Oct. 16, with the goal of presenting a plan to the City Council by December.

As both Portsmouth and Dover make plans for new parking garages, they will also pursue other methods of improving their parking systems. In Portsmouth, that includes maximizing use of remote lots that do not currently fill up, such as the Masonic lot, the South Mill lot on Junkins Avenue, and areas on Peirce Island.

According to Dwyer, a number of capital improvements could make pedestrians more willing to walk longer distances, including better signage, coordination of traffic lights, improved sidewalks, and the addition of small parks.

Both cities are also exploring new technologies to make parking more convenient. They have both installed pay-and-display parking meters, although there was initial resistance from the public.

“In the initial rollout, yes, there was hesitation,” Parker said. “But we’re seeing great revenue streams, which indicates that occupancy is very high.”

Just last month, Dover added EasyPark technology to its paid parking program, enabling people to pre-pay for parking on a device placed in the vehicle. Portsmouth has experimented with similar iPark technology.

Meanwhile, Dover has already issued a request for proposals on the First Street parking lot. A commercial development on the lot would not only raise funds toward a garage, but channel more people to downtown businesses.

“When it’s all said and done, if we can increase parking capacity, add hundreds of residential units and commercial properties, it’s a win-win for the city. Because even if you add, say, one commercial property, those people have to go out and take advantage of the retail and eating establishments, as well,” Simons said. “Every person you bring into downtown is positive, as long as you have somewhere for them to park.”