CHEYENNE — Before a relatively short Cheyenne City Council meeting concluded Monday evening, several downtown business and property owners continued to express their opposition to the governing body’s decision to install a paid parking program downtown, saying they felt excluded from the process and that it may hurt their business.
The proposed changes still allow two free hours of parking across downtown. The only change is people will have the opportunity to pay for additional time in the parking space on a mobile app or by calling a phone number.
Sam Galeotos, who owns multiple downtown businesses, including The Metropolitan restaurant, presented the counselors with a petition signed by around 120 downtown stakeholders, including business owners and customers. It urges the city to reverse its decision and consider other options to address parking issues downtown.
“All of the business and property owners signing the petition have invested heavily in downtown Cheyenne and generate their livelihoods in the downtown business district. We believe the subject ordinances will create a barrier to attracting downtown visitors, both local visitors and out-of-towners,” he said.
Galeotos said the change will cause unnecessary financial damage to businesses and compromise the investments he and others have made to make downtown an attractive destination and environment.
“I would be remiss if I did not communicate that we are really unclear as to what problem the governing body was attempting to solve with these ordinances and what benefits they will generate to enhance commerce in downtown Cheyenne,” he added.
The petition indicates that signatories do not believe the City Council’s actions are representative of the collective view of the downtown business community. It outlines nine alternative strategies the city should consider instead of the proposed paid parking program.
These recommendations include updating street and curb striping, improving signage, informative community marketing, improvements to the safety of the Spiker Parking Facility, discounted parking rates at the parking structure for downtown employees, changing enforcement approaches and considering additional parking options on the east side of downtown.
Corey Loghry, co-owner of The Downtowner and Paris West, told the WTE that, of the 120 signatories, 90% of them were unaware of the parking ordinances being presented. She said once those 90% found out, between 94% and 96% were opposed.
“The justification for the implementation of paid parking was (that) it was what downtown stakeholders wanted; that is simply inaccurate, and actually the very last thing we want, as we think it will significantly and negatively deter continued efforts to grow downtown,” Loghry told the WTE in an email.
Cheyenne’s Downtown Business Collective met with the Cheyenne Police Department in December to hear CPD’s vision for what paid parking will look like downtown. At this meeting, many attendees expressed a similar sentiment, saying they felt excluded from the decision-making process.
Following the meeting, Richard Johnson, who was a City Council member representing Ward 3 at the time and sponsor of the paid parking resolution, submitted a letter to the editor published in the WTE stating that business owners had ample opportunity to provide feedback.
In his letter, Johnson said the process began in 2022 following a Downtown Business Collective work session where the data he collected from business owners inspired him to begin drafting the resolution.
A 2017 parking study by Kimley-Horn had also suggested implementing paid parking downtown as a potential solution to address parking and traffic concerns in the area.
In spring 2023, the council held a work session on the findings from the study and Johnson’s work on the resolution. The city and CPD also held a public forum on the topic before introducing the ordinance in June 2024.
CPD Capt. David Janes, who has been leading the research on how to implement the parking program, previously told the WTE that a primary goal of this program is to encourage downtown employees and visitors to park in the parking garage.
Several attendees at Monday’s meeting expressed concern with the safety of the parking structure. Janes has said CPD is making efforts to increase safety, such as installing entry and exit gates and adding locks to the doors to the building.
Although there would not be many actual changes to the parking system, business owners expressed concern with how the perception of having a paid parking system will impact their customer traffic.
“I feel that our customer base, a lot of them, can figure out (the app), but not all of them,” said Sandy Inniss, co-owner of 2 Doors Down. “I’m probably one of those older people that can’t figure it out. I think that’s going to be a definite hit to our business, and I think we’ll see less traffic.”
Virginia Brinkerhoff, owner of Just Dandy, said some customers have told her they will no longer come downtown to shop if they must navigate a mobile app or a parking kiosk after their two free hours have expired.
She said this change may be the “nail in the coffin” for many downtown business owners who are already struggling financially.