Worthington City Council has approved a valet parking program for Old Worthington, adopting rules that let a private operator use the city's curb space to drop off and pick up cars along High Street. The first operator expected to apply is connected to Wolf's Ridge Brewing, though the program is open to any company that meets the requirements. Council passed the measure even as several members argued that the $300 annual fee, a standard charge set by the city's right-of-way code, is too low for the use of public parking, a question they agreed to revisit.
What the program allows
The program lets an approved operator run a valet service from the public right-of-way rather than entirely on private property. Under the proposal staff expect to receive, the service would affect two parking spaces in front of Joya's, which would become drop-off and pickup zones during valet hours and remain regular two-hour parking the rest of the time. The operator would post signage, station an attendant, and keep at least four feet of sidewalk clear for pedestrians and cyclists. Cars would be parked in a private lot, in this case a shared-parking arrangement behind a nearby office building, rather than on the street.
The valet would run Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, roughly 4 p.m. to midnight. Outside those hours the spaces revert to ordinary parking, and even during valet hours the curb stays available for anyone to drop off or pick up a passenger, not just valet customers. The program limits service to one operator per block face, and the city's director of service and engineering would approve applications that meet the rules.
City staff framed the program as a response to ongoing parking pressure in the downtown core, pointing to the recently completed Old Worthington parking study, which recommended making better use of underutilized private lots. Staff described the valet as a service to the district and its restaurants: "not to have a revenue generator," as one put it, but "a service that we're providing to Old Worthington."
Why the fee is $300, and why council questioned it
Much of the discussion centered on the $300-per-year price. Several council members said that figure seemed low for taking two public parking spaces during prime evening hours. "$300 for two parking spots for the entire year, just in my mind doesn't seem reasonable," one member said.
City Engineer John Moorehead explained that the $300 is not a valet-specific charge but the city's standard "special permit" fee for any use of the public right-of-way that doesn't fit another category. The same permit covers other uses of the right-of-way, like utility work. "It isn't set based on the type of use or the perceived value of the right-of-way being used," Moorehead said. "It's just the permit fee established in our code."
Staff added that the city's ability to change that fee is limited. Worthington's right-of-way chapter is "grandfathered" under Ohio law: because the city never updated its fee structure when the state tightened the rules years ago, it avoided a state review process that ties such fees to the city's actual cost of managing the right-of-way. Reopening the chapter to charge more for parking would forfeit that grandfathered status and require the city to justify its fees against those costs.
Several members said parking should eventually be treated as its own category rather than lumped in with utility and construction permits. "Parking is in fact something that's used for revenue in many cities, and that's what we're talking about here," one member said, arguing that giving up public spaces "merits its own category." Another worried that an operator might overcharge customers and asked whether the city could cap service fees. Staff responded that the city has no system for regulating what private businesses charge their customers, and that stepping in to cap those fees would be new regulatory territory for the city.
A pilot, with a promise to revisit
Supporters described the valet as a low-cost way to ease parking demand and help downtown restaurants, and a way to test an alternative before the city considers a multimillion-dollar parking structure. They also noted that the arrangement compensates a private lot owner. The shared lot sits behind the former chamber building at 25 W. New England Avenue, which an office tenant doesn't use on nights and weekends.
Before the vote, council amended the resolution to strike its provisions for temporary valet zones, which had been carried over from a similar Columbus program and which members found unclear; at the suggestion of the city's legal staff, the accompanying definition was removed as well. Council then approved the program as amended. Because the permits expire after a year, members said the one-year mark would be a natural point to review how the pilot is working and to take up the larger questions about fees and whether parking deserves a permit category of its own.
If an operator applies and meets the rules, staff said the service could be running within a few weeks.