Editor’s Note: This is the fifth and final story in a five-part Delaware Source series examining changes made to Delaware City Council’s Strategic Action Plan. Each installment focuses on one of the plan’s five priority areas.
DELAWARE — Delaware City Manager Paul Brake may have said it best during the city’s Strategic Action Plan work session on July 20: “Everyone’s favorite subject: parking, parking, parking.”
From residents to city officials, nearly everyone who calls Delaware home has something to say about parking and mobility challenges around the downtown area.
But there may be some solutions in sight — maybe not as soon as people would hope, but soon nonetheless.
City officials listed off eight ways to hopefully help the situation during the July 20 work session, though only one was deemed a key priority moving forward into the plan’s next two years.
That one idea is implementing new parking kiosks to replace the “legacy meters” commonly found around downtown. Brake said this has already been something in the works, but the July 20 meeting reaffirmed the initiative’s importance going forward.
“[The city is] looking at two vendors who could put in a kiosk that would be solar,” Brake said. “[The kiosks] also provide some opportunities for cool art to have on the side of these things; they’re not massively huge but they will occupy some space on the sidewalk.”
During the work session, officials reviewed the entire strategic plan as it stands today, which was first approved in August 2025. The city then identified priorities related to the plan’s five sections that will shape the city’s future.
Management Advisory Group managing partner David Collinsworth led the work session.
Strategic Action Plan focus areas:
- Strengthen fiscal sustainability
- Grow and diversify the local economy
- Strengthen regional partnerships
- Foster community connectivity and vibrancy
- Solve parking and mobility challenges
The fifth and final section of the Strategic Action Plan focuses on “supporting downtown vibrancy and future growth by improving parking management, access and mobility through data-driven planning and targeted investment.”
The city identified this portion of the plan as “on track.”
The first four stories from this series:
How have parking problems been addressed?
Before looking at new ideas, city officials reviewed the status of two existing initiatives:
- Develop Downtown Parking Strategy — On Track
- Study completed with Kimley-Horn; implementation of recommendations underway.
- Study completed with Kimley-Horn; implementation of recommendations underway.
- Modernize Parking Infrastructure — In Progress
- A request for proposal (RFP) to identify a parking meter solution was issued at the beginning of May to replace the legacy meters currently in use. The city has received several vendor submissions. Following the evaluation, including any interviews, presentations, or demonstrations, it is the intent of the evaluation committee to proceed in recommending a vendor for contract award. Removal of the existing equipment and transition to the new technology is expected to begin in late summer or early fall.
With the above progress reviewed, Collinsworth led an exercise to identify new ideas for the parking and mobility challenges section and determine which should become the city’s highest priorities for the section and strategic plan as a whole.
Building on what exists and sparking new ideas
Besides the new parking kiosk talks, officials brainstormed seven other ideas that could rework existing parking conditions and bring new solutions to the forefront.
Vice Mayor Caitlin Frazier and Councilwoman Linsey Griffith pitched the idea of collaborating more with Delaware County Transit for more services or shuttles during larger events downtown, like Main Street Delaware’s First Fridays.
Griffith also mentioned investing in up-to-date charging stations for electric vehicles, and said the few that exist today aren’t used because their technology is already outdated.
“Delaware County has the highest electric vehicle adoption rate in the state, and we have three outdated electric car chargers downtown. That’s it. And there are four outdated ones out at Meijer,” Griffith said.
In a perfect world, the city would like to have a multi-storied parking garage somewhere in the downtown area, an idea the group briefly discussed. However, officials noted historic preservation codes that would make the project a challenge.
Other ideas mentioned for the parking and mobility section:
- Upgrading/resurfacing existing parking lots and the alleys that lead to them. City Engineer Jonathan Owen pointed to a parking lot on Franklin Street as an example.
- Increase community outreach on where people can park and include information on the new system once it comes online.
- Unify parking signage around the downtown area.
- Look for a possible public or private transportation partnership for mobility challenged seniors.
What’s next
The ideas discussed July 20 do not immediately change city policy.
Instead, Collinsworth said the work session was intended to identify priorities that staff can begin incorporating into future council discussions and formal action items as the strategic plan continues to evolve.
This is the fifth and final installment in a five-part Delaware Source series examining updates to the city’s Strategic Action Plan.
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