Strategic Plans & Parking Studies

Why the City of Concord Manages Public Parking

Public parking is a finite public resource with competing interests that rely upon it. Communities manage parking in order to balance these interests to the extent possible to protect the public good and further economic development goals.

Management of public parking is important for economic vitality and turnover. Turnover in high demand areas is especially important for retailers and restaurants.

Parking management is also a key component of ensuring public safety for pedestrians and motorists alike. Basic examples include parking setbacks near intersections and crosswalks for visibility, no parking at fire hydrants in order to maximize ease of access for emergency responders, or parking restrictions on narrow streets to maintain safe flow of traffic.

Public parking facilities are expensive to build. Efficient management of public parking is critical to ensure the community is not spending limited resources unnecessarily to build more parking.

Lastly, management of public parking is also an important source of revenues for communities. Parking charges are user fees which reduce costs to the taxpayers for building, operating, and maintaining parking infrastructure.

Parking Strategic Plan

The City began the process of preparing a strategic plan for the Parking System in 2014. The goal of the planning process was to develop a strategy to make the Parking Fund financially solvent while simultaneously furthering economic development goals, enhancing customer service, and improving the quality of the City's parking facilities. The Parking Committee presented its final Strategic Plan to the City Council on November 13, 2017. The Strategic Plan included a variety of short and long-term recommendations to be implemented over the next several years. On December 11, 2017, the City Council approved several ordinances to begin implementation of parking reforms.

For more information about the strategic parking plan, please contact Tim Thompson, Assistant Community Development Director. 

Narrow Streets Study

In January 2017, the City’s Parking Committee initiated a comprehensive review of narrow streets generally located in Wards 4, 5, and 6 of the City. These areas are to the north, south, and west of the downtown central business district.

The study was initiated in response to ongoing concerns from residents about the following issues associated with on-street parking on narrow roadways:

  • Public safety, emergency vehicle access, and response times;
  • Access to, and egress from, driveways;
  • Snow removal; and,
  • Delivery of public services (trash, mail, school buses, etc.)

Working with the Parking Division, General Services Department, Community Development Department, as well as Police and Fire Departments, the Parking Committee studied approximately 143 narrow street segments in the study area. See Map #1.

Using criteria set forth in the City’s Code of Ordinances Article 18-1-4, a narrow street is defined as any roadway whereby on-street parking would result in less than a 12’ wide lane for vehicular traffic. Using these criteria, approximately 84 of the 143 street segments were classified as “narrow streets”. See map below, and associated street listing.

In October 2018, the Parking Committee began hosting neighborhood forums to discuss narrow streets issues with the community. In order to make review process manageable, the Parking Committee subdivided the study area into 4 separate zones. These zones are as follows. See the map below for details. Click here for a larger map.

Map of Narrow Streets of Concern by Zone

Public hearing information, presentations, as well as the Parking Committee’s final recommendations for each Zone is listed below.  This information will be periodically updated as information is available. 

Zone 1 Wall Street Neighborhood: 

Zone 2 City Hall Neighborhood:

Zone 3 UNH School of Law / White Park Neighborhood:

Zone 4 Old North Cemetery Neighborhood: