The City began working on a Downtown Parking Study and Strategic Plan in 2018 in conjunction with Walker Consultants. Phase 1 of this study included an inventory of available public parking, parking use on weekdays, weekends, and special events, supply and demand projections, and stakeholder engagement. A Steering Committee and Technical Advisory Committee were established as part of the stakeholder engagement process.

Phase 1 of this study occurred in 2018 and included an inventory of available public parking; parking use on weekdays, weekends, and special events; supply and demand projections; and stakeholder engagement. A Steering Committee and Technical Advisory Committee were established as part of the stakeholder engagement process.

Phase 2 of the Downtown Parking Study occurred in 2019 and included expanded stakeholder and public engagement and an assessment of parking management strategies, policy options, and alternative approaches. The Community Survey that was launched as part of this phase received over 1,200 responses in total.

This study documented a total publicly available parking inventory of 2,342 spaces. This does not include the new Foundry Garage, which was not yet completed at the time of the study. Peak occupancy for the public parking system reached 67% at noon on a weekday. The study projected that the parking system would continue to meet needs in aggregate through 2023, while projected demand system-wide would exceed the projected supply by 2028.

Phase 3 The Downtown Loveland Parking Management Implementation and Action Plan (Plan) project continues parking study that began in 2018. The Plan was reviewed and supported by the Planning Commission and unanimously adopted by the City Council on October 23, 2024.

This Plan builds upon, refines, and modernizes work accomplished in the previous phases by accomplishing the following objectives:

• Validates the core challenges, guiding principles, and strategies from the previous phases and it modernizes them based on the values, trends, and behaviors of today’s Downtown Loveland that will effectively manage parking for all user groups, including customers and visitors, employees, business owners, and residents.
• Details short-term, mid-term, and long-term actional goals that create opportunities to support economic vitality with smart on-and-off-street parking management, such as parking permit programs, administrative and operational needs, policy, ordinance, and regulatory changes, technology, capital needs, and communications efforts.
• Provides a consensus of core recommendations that was rigorously scrutinized by decision-makers and the community through the engagement process, which was accomplished by the creation of a task force, a public stakeholder committee, numerous in-person public outreach efforts, and an online poll on Let’s Talk Loveland.  

Now that the Plan has been approved, the Public Works Department will request an upfront capital expenditure to hire a Division Manager and acquire enforcement equipment; once this budget is approved, the Parking Management Division Manager will implement the action step. The Action Steps Summary can be found in Chapter 5 of the Plan. For a quick reference, they can be found here.

Downtown Parking Study Phase I

Downtown Parking Study Phase 2

Downtown Parking Management Implementation and Action Plan

Parking Study Area