Pay to Park System Likely at PARTA Transit Center

Details are slow in coming on the agreement between Kent and the for public parking spaces in the new .

That's partly because the three-tiered structure of the agreement is still being worked on by both parties, but there is some information about how the project many called a catalyst for downtown redevelopment will operate. The transit center's public parking is crucial for serving many of the downtown projects, including .

In exchange for its $4 million share to construct the upper two parking levels, the city will get a 50-year "lease" for parking in the $26 million transit center, which is planned for the northeast corner of Erie and South DePeyster streets downtown.

And it looks like drivers will have to pay to park in the facility.

Kent City Manager Dave Ruller said so far the city and PARTA have looked at how a range of fee options — including a no-fee structure — would impact the costs of running the facility.

"At this point the agreement makes sure that a fee based system is agreed upon up front, but I don't believe that there's been any specific decisions made, nor would I necessarily expect any for some time on exact fee amounts," Ruller said.

Kent City Engineer Jim Bowling said all 360 parking spaces currently planned for would be open to the public. He said so far there are no plans to limit any spaces for people who are only parking to catch a PARTA bus to Akron, Cleveland or elsewhere.

According to a draft of the lease agreement, PARTA will enter into and execute a "fee-based parking management agreement" with a third-party company that will manage the parking operations at the transit center.

The draft agreement also places PARTA in charge of maintaining the facility's 10 bus bays, public parking spaces, climate-controlled waiting area and first-floor shell space built for retail businesses.

The lease agreement was scheduled to go to Kent City Council for a vote earlier this month, but because it was incomplete the vote has been delayed. Council will likely see the agreement in March.

Bryan Smith, director of planning for PARTA, said the delay is not expected to effect the timeline for breaking ground on the project — which is supposed to happen this spring.

Smith said PARTA is accepting bids for management of the project's construction, and potential contractors have until Feb. 28 to submit their proposals.