PENDLETON — Downtown Pendleton parking lots are fuller than they have been in the past, but open parking remains ample, according to a study the Pendleton Development Commission conducted.

At a Tuesday, Nov. 16, meeting, Charles Denight, the commission’s associate director, and Patrick Holzman, an associate working for the city through AmeriCorps’ Resource Assistance for Rural Environments program, presented their findings.

Denight and Holzman did a windshield count of every on-street and off-street parking spot between Southwest First Street and Southeast First Street, and Frazer Avenue and Byers Avenue, in addition to the public parking lot near the Pendleton Center for the Arts, at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 14 and Saturday, Oct. 16. The study excluded private parking lots like the lots belonging to Zimmerman & Company True Value and Old West Federal Credit Union.

On both days, the vacancy rate was 63% in the morning. In the afternoon, the vacancy rate was 64% on Oct. 14 and 70% on Oct. 16. Compared to the last time the commission conducted this study in 2017, the overall 2021 rates were lower, though still far above 50%.

Broken down by location, the 200 block of Southwest First Street and the nearby Crabby’s parking lot had the heaviest traffic and were the only areas where the vacancy rate was below 25% overall. At the other end of the spectrum, parking lots on the outskirts of the downtown core — the art center parking lot, the Eagles parking lot and the Pendleton Chamber of Commerce parking lot — were all more than 75% vacant regardless of date or time of day.

“We have more people driving and parking downtown now than in 2017, which would indicate that there’s more economic activity,” Holzman said.

City Manager Robb Corbett added the lower parking vacancy rates could be attributed to new apartments downtown. Since 2018, developer Al Plute has been converting the second and third floors of the Bowman Building from office space to apartment units.

Mayor John Turner said the study seemed to run counter to some residents’ claims that they can’t find any parking downtown, but Councilor McKennon McDonald encouraged staff to study the parking lots at night when people travel to the downtown area to dine.

“Pretty much every night that I drive down Main Street, there are very, very few slots in the evenings,” she said. “I feel like that’s when people make comments and then people are less likely to want to park in a lot because it’s further and the lighting has always been something that comes up.”