Learn more What: Davis City Council meeting When: 6:00 p.m. Tuesday Where: Community Chambers, City Hall, 23 Russell Blvd. Watch it: Live on Comcast Channel 16 or AT&T U-Verse Channel 99, or as streaming video at www.cityofdavis.org/media

In continual efforts to relieve downtown parking shortages, the Davis City Council is set to hear the latest on the Downtown Parking Management Plan as it nears the end of its first phase.

After two years of studying parking problems downtown and rolling out the first of several changes on the horizon, Tuesday’s meeting will give the council an opportunity to weigh in on the process so far and open the floor to possible revisions they’d like to see further down the line.

The parking plan includes a package of 19 recommendations that stretch from expanding the number of parking spaces to adding new technologies into the city’s enforcement setup. Eleven of those recommendations comprise Phase 1 and are set to be complete by early 2017, at which point the council would be asked to approve Phase 2.

“For Phase 1, most of it is related to management, versus physical improvements on the ground,” said Brian Abbanat, transportation planner with the city.

So far, the city has completed quarterly studies of downtown’s parking stock and turnover and developed a new parking strategies and transit campaign, the city reports.

Later this summer, delivery vehicles will be restricted from double-parking from noon to 1:30 p.m. on several streets downtown, as soon as new street signage goes in. Green waste piles also were eliminated downtown in efforts to preserve downtown’s parking stock.

Next year, parking citations will work on a tiered system with fines in increasing amounts of $43, $86 and $129 for repeat offenders. The change will be made possible once the city implements new parking management software that received funds earlier this year.

“The new system will provide real-time access to the citation database,” Abbanat said, which will allow officers to view the number of citations recorded on a license plate.

Additional efforts to increase employee parking by 80 to 100 spaces in the parking garage at Fourth and G streets are on the table, but are on hold due to a lack of funding. The unfunded proposal would require $20,000 to $30,000 per year.

The city is also working to increase the number “X” permits for employees who work downtown and add 27 parking spaces to the Regal Cinemas parking lot. The increase would incur $132,000 in costs.

The city’s public works department also has its eyes on placing three license-plate recognition cameras on parking enforcement scooters that cruise around downtown. The cameras would replace the tire chalking system currently used by meter maids and could go live by the end of September.

Plans for using underutilized private parking lots in the downtown core as valet parking for restaurants are also in the works. The concept would require partnerships from the valet company, property owner, and business owner, which proved difficult in its trial stages, Abbanat explained.

Phase 2 would likely follow as soon as the first wave of improvements is complete. If approved, the second phase would see a wave of paid parking and permit parking increases across downtown and into nearby neighborhoods.

Areas such as the southeast quadrant of downtown and the Amtrak train station would see paid parking under the plan. Employee parking permit areas could also further extend into Old East Davis and Old North Davis. The second phase would also see extra resurfacing and streetscape improvements as well.

As it currently stands, there’s no timeline for when Phase 2 plans could be put into action, but the council is expected to vote on the plans once again when the first phase is complete, Abbanat said.

Tuesday’s meeting will also see Will Arnold inducted onto the council and a commemoration ceremony for Dan Wolk, whose term as mayor ended last month.

— Reach Felicia Alvarez at [email protected] or 530-747-8052. Follow her on Twitter at @Felicia_A_