All development requires planning but development projects near a church where George Washington once worshiped demand particular attention. A city with a 375-yearold history, Portsmouth, New Hampshire offers a mix of small retail, professional offices, restaurants, entertainment venues, and residential opportunities. It also offers a number of historic sites that entice visitors to the downtown area. Downtown Portsmouth maintains a steady volume of visitors year round but there is a noticeable increase of out of town visitors during the months of May-September. Weekend nights also see a significant increase in downtown activity. The variety of people who live, work, or visit downtown requires a range of parking services. To assist the City in the allocation of its parking services, CEG was retained to work with the City and its stakeholders.

To ensure a comprehensive study of its parking issues, the parking planners of CEG divided the project into several phases including a review of parking rates and fines; an analysis of parking service delivery; and an assessment of parking supply and demand.

The City implemented new hourly rates for its parking garage within the past year. The primary issue regarding rates was to respond to the appropriateness of its revised rate structure. CEG first examined legal mandates regarding rates to ensure any recommendation complied with local regulations. We then made a comparison with other cities in the region and similarly sized municipalities across the nation. The next step was to examine the parking goals of the City. After that review, the staff examined the financial impact and quantity of customers before and after the rate adjustment. Finally, we studied the advantages and disadvantages of the several rate options introduced by citizens. Based upon this comprehensive review, we then were able to recommend a rate structure to complement the parking goals of the City.

To examine the delivery of parking services, we looked at both on-street and off-street assets. The High/Hanover Garage is the City's largest parking facility with 900 spaces. Patrons exiting the garage on weekend evenings reported excessive delays. The CEG staff observed and carefully recorded the parking activities. In addition, we examined a number of interior factors (equipment placement, staffing levels, etc.) and external factors (street traffic, weather) to better understand the parking conditions. A similar approach was taken with on-street parking. The CEG parking planners reviewed meter repair records, enforcement activity, and collection methods. We also explored several optional methods of collecting revenue and enforcement of on-street parking prior to formulating potential service enhancements to their program.

Using current data on the existing supply of parking,CEG examined the parking demand of several new developments either underway or being planned. Parking spaces being provided as part of the developments was included in the analysis. This review provided insights into future parking conditions enabling the City to address parking shortfalls over the next five years. Draft reports are currently under review by the City. Upon the conclusion of that process, CEG will analyze the feedback and produce the final document for the City.