Casper DDA plans to hire full-time parking enforcement officers for downtown

CASPER, Wyo. — At the Casper Downtown Development Authority’s June 12 board meeting, board members discussed the possibility of hiring a full-time employee to walk downtown streets and make respect the city’s two-hour parking limit.

According to Liz Becher, Casper’s community development director, at the June 12 meeting, the council’s infrastructure subcommittee was already considering the idea of ​​recruiting a parking enforcement officer from the city’s community development department. When board members participated in the downtown cleanup on May 23, concerns raised by other downtown business owners about the downtown parking situation were also raised.

Becher cited a few businesses that could also benefit from stricter parking enforcement earlier and later in the day than community service officers were previously able to enforce.

“Not just to do it from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but also to help Eggington’s who suddenly has parking lots in front of their businesses from 6 p.m.,” Becher said. “When we do longer parties and host events, we need to make sure we see the revolving opportunities for merchants to be able to have openings in front of their businesses.”

According to Becher at the board meeting, that person would likely be a field officer, traveling on foot to ensure they have the best possible chance of speaking with affected business owners.

“It’s good to have people on the street walking and giving us ways to improve our downtown,” Becher said at the meeting.

She also said during the meeting that this person should be accessible, and not just to downtown business owners.

“We want to have the opportunity to interact more with people, and maybe it’s the users themselves who might have extenuating circumstances, without just giving them a ticket. Maybe there’s a reason (they parked for more than two hours),” Becher said.

No official decision has yet been made by the Downtown Development Authority regarding parking enforcement. What was discussed in the municipal report does not constitute a final decision.

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