Falcon Heights to charge $25 for State Fair parking

The Falcon Heights City Council has approved a pay-by-mobile parking program for the duration of the Minnesota State Fair. Historically, the fair’s host city has been one of the free nearby parking options with about 1,000 street spots.

The program will use the parking fee app ParkMobile and charge a flat fee of $25 for parking between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. in newly created parking zones in neighborhoods east of Snelling Avenue.

“Pay-by-mobile parking provides an excellent solution to promote safety for our Falcon Heights residents and the hundreds of thousands of visitors we welcome to our city during the Minnesota State Fair,” Falcon Heights Mayor Randy Gustafson said. “We heard from our residents during this process on how we could improve the plan, and we believe the version adopted by the City Council will meet the needs of our community.”

City administrator Jack Linehan told MPR News the goal of the parking program is to improve safety, congestion and costs to the city. He estimates that on a given fair day, 5,000 fairgoers may be vying for 1,000 street parking spots.

“They’re willing to drive and circle for a half hour to save on not paying for a spot,” Linehan said.

The program has faced some resistance, Linehan said.

“We’ve gotten definitely some pushback from both the broader public and then also residents too,” Linehan said. “We took a lot of that feedback, and that’s how we built this final plan.”

This includes automatically mailing free parking passes to about 600 residents of Falcon Heights, with an option for residents to request additional passes. Nonresidents will use Park Mobile, but Linehan says you don’t necessarily need the app.

“You can do it through text,” Linehan said. “If you have a flip phone, you can call and dial and follow the automated steps to enter in your information.”

The $25 flat fee was proposed because that is the current rate the State Fair uses for its own lots, Linehan says. Revenue will go to fund a city-run parking ambassador program and investment in city roads and infrastructure.

In March, a city task force estimated that parking fees would bring in $200,000 a year.

While the Falcon Heights is the host city of the fair, Linehan said, it has no jurisdiction over the event; it does not receive any fair revenue.

Linehan said the parking fees are “another revenue source that can help us fund our infrastructure and take some of that burden in those costs — which currently our residents pay for to kind of pay for the fair — because as a city we do not receive any direct financial benefit from the fair.”