Why Whitefish Bay May Remove Parking Meters

In its September 29 notice, Whitefish Bay said meters would stop accepting coins and credit cards on October 1. Drivers can pay through ParkMobile, scan the meter’s QR code, call 877-727-5003 or text PARK to 77223.

Parking on Silver Spring Drive still requires payment, for now.

The September 21 Village Board minutes describe a different approach from the original October free-parking proposal: maintain the meters for now, with a six-month trial tied to Silver Spring reopening in both directions and the new traffic signal becoming operational. January 1, 2027 was mentioned as a possible start, but drivers should not treat that as a confirmed launch date.

The board also left parking rules on the 5400 and 5500 blocks unchanged while employee-parking options receive further consideration.

For families visiting Silver Spring, the practical advice is straightforward: pay for your parking session and follow the posted limits.

Background: The Earlier Parking Proposals

The sections below explain the earlier proposals and the broader questions behind Whitefish Bay’s parking debate. They do not establish that free parking or expanded employee parking has begun.

The village’s immediate parking problem is part of a much larger shift in how communities manage limited curb space. Traditional meters increasingly compete with mobile payments, digital permits and license-plate technology. Meanwhile, Whitefish Bay has considered whether some old meter poles could eventually become bike racks.

Why Is Whitefish Bay’s Parking-Meter Company Shutting Down?

Whitefish Bay’s meters and related technology were supplied by POM Incorporated, a longtime Arkansas parking-meter manufacturer whose history stretches back decades.

According to POM’s August 18 letter to customers included in the Whitefish Bay Village Board packet, the company planned to cease operations October 1, 2026.

POM President Seth Ward III wrote that his family had owned the company since 1981. His father ran the company until his death in 2013, after which Ward operated it on behalf of his mother. Following his mother’s death in 2026, Ward and his sister began winding down her affairs, including POM.

Ward also said the family had tried for several years to sell the business but had been unable to find a buyer “in the age of mobile payments,” a trend he said accelerated after the pandemic.

That explanation fits a larger technological shift in parking.

Traditional standalone meters increasingly compete with mobile-payment apps, multi-space kiosks, license-plate-based systems and digital permits that require less hardware at every individual parking space.

POM’s company history traces its parking-meter business to the former Rockwell parking-meter operation, which POM purchased in 1976. The Ward family acquired POM in 1981.

What Changed at Whitefish Bay’s Meters on October 1?

The earlier village discussion considered whether the meters could continue accepting coins after POM’s technology services ended.

The later village payment notice gives drivers the instructions to follow: beginning October 1, Silver Spring meters would no longer accept coins or credit cards. Payment would continue through ParkMobile, the meter’s QR code, phone or text.

The equipment problem was already affecting the system. During the September 21 meeting, village staff reported that 30 of the 80 meters were not functioning.

POM’s closure also raised concerns about software, wireless connections and replacement parts. Simply maintaining the existing system was becoming increasingly difficult.

Whitefish Bay’s Earlier Proposed Solution: Try Free Parking

The original staff recommendation called for removing the meter heads, capping the roughly 80 poles and conducting a 60-day pilot beginning October 1.

Under that proposal, existing parking restrictions would have remained. A space with a two-hour limit would still have had a two-hour limit; drivers simply would not have paid during the trial.

Staff would have collected parking data and returned to the Village Board in December.

The idea was to see what happened before committing to a permanent system.

That original proposal should be read alongside the later board discussion and payment notice. It is not evidence that an October 1 free-parking trial began.

Why Not Simply Replace the Meters?

Money is part of the equation.

During the parking discussion, Whitefish Bay reported collecting about $55,000 annually from its parking meters while spending approximately $34,000 a year to operate the system.

That left roughly $21,000 in annual net operating revenue, before considering the original capital investment.

The village spent approximately $83,000 to install the current meters in 2019.

Removing meters could therefore mean giving up revenue while eliminating some equipment and maintenance costs.

There is also a broader policy question: does Whitefish Bay need paid parking to create turnover, or can posted time limits accomplish the same thing?

A future trial could help answer that question.

Businesses Favor Getting Rid of the Meters

The Whitefish Bay Business Improvement District recommended removing the meters and replacing them with posted time limits.

The BID’s concerns extend beyond whether customers pay for a space. Business owners also need somewhere for employees to park without occupying the most convenient customer spaces throughout the day.

Earlier recommendations included two-hour customer parking. Later discussions considered whether one-hour parking on Silver Spring could encourage additional turnover.

Removing parking meters does not necessarily mean making parking less regulated.

Whitefish Bay could ultimately make parking free while becoming more deliberate about how long people can occupy its most valuable business-district spaces.

Shorewood Offers One Nearby Example

Just south of Whitefish Bay, Shorewood has moved heavily toward license-plate-based parking management.

Shorewood does not require motorists with many types of parking permits to display a physical sticker or hangtag. Instead, the vehicle’s license plate is entered into the system, and police use license-plate recognition technology to verify parking permission. Details are available on the Village of Shorewood’s parking page.

Shorewood also uses different rules for different parking needs.

Some residential areas affected by commuter parking have two-hour daytime limits unless the vehicle has a residential parking permit. Drivers can review eligibility and current charges through the village’s daytime parking information.

Shorewood also provides limited overnight on-street parking permissions before a longer-term permit is needed. Check the official parking rules before leaving a vehicle overnight.

The system illustrates how municipalities can manage parking without installing a payment device at every space.

Employee Parking Is a Separate Question

Whitefish Bay already has an employee permit system.

Earlier village materials described 120 designated long-term employee parking spaces serving the Silver Spring business district, compared with 495 employee permits issued.

One proposal would have allowed employees with permits to park for up to 10 hours on selected side streets while other motorists remained subject to the usual limits.

That would create two different uses for nearby curb space:

• Short-term parking for customers.

• Long-term parking for permitted employees.

However, the September 21 minutes record further consideration of employee-parking options and no immediate changes to parking on the 5400 or 5500 blocks.

Families and employees should follow existing signs rather than assume that the earlier 10-hour proposal took effect.

Milwaukee Has Gone in Another Direction

The City of Milwaukee provides another possible model.

Milwaukee has invested in smart meters and mobile payments while retaining paid parking.

The city describes meters that accept coins and credit cards, along with mobile-payment options, on its official parking-meter page.

Its MKE Park information explains the city’s mobile-payment system and related parking services.

Milwaukee illustrates another option for communities evaluating aging equipment: retain paid parking while making the system increasingly digital.

Could Whitefish Bay Join Milwaukee’s Parking System?

Earlier village materials described conversations with the City of Milwaukee about a potential temporary solution that could preserve an app-payment option.

At that stage, costs were unknown, and officials expected that another long-term solution would eventually be needed.

Those discussions left several possibilities open:

• Adopt a different mobile-payment platform.

• Install newer smart meters.

• Move toward centralized kiosks.

• Test whether paid parking is still necessary.

The later ParkMobile payment instructions establish how drivers should pay now. They do not settle every question about Whitefish Bay’s long-term parking system.

Another Possibility: Turn Old Meter Poles Into Bike Racks

One of the more creative ideas in the earlier village materials had nothing to do with cars.

The BID favored removing meter poles and converting some locations into bicycle parking.

The system included 80 meter poles, with 43 on Silver Spring Drive. Village staff estimated that converting about half of those Silver Spring locations into bike racks would cost approximately $6,600, including permanent signage.

That would turn infrastructure built to collect parking fees into infrastructure supporting another way to reach the business district.

For a compact downtown like Silver Spring, additional bicycle parking could be useful during restaurant visits, community events and warmer months.

The bike-rack concept remains separate from the current payment instructions.

The Bigger Trend: Parking Spaces Are Becoming Curb Space

Municipalities increasingly consider the curb a flexible public resource.

Depending on the location and time of day, the same space might serve customers, employees, deliveries, accessible parking, bicycle parking, ride pickups or special events.

Milwaukee adjusts parking arrangements for construction and special events, including temporarily hooding meters. Its parking-meter information explains how those situations are handled.

Shorewood similarly uses different daytime and permit-parking arrangements for different needs.

Whitefish Bay’s employee-parking discussion raises the same underlying question: what should each space accomplish?

Free Parking Also Comes With an Enforcement Challenge

Eliminating payment equipment would not eliminate the need to enforce parking rules.

According to Whitefish Bay staff’s earlier analysis, an officer could determine on a single pass whether a metered vehicle was in violation.

With conventional time-limit parking, an officer might need one pass to record the vehicle and another later to determine whether it exceeded the allowed time.

Staff estimated that maintaining the same enforcement level without meters could require roughly twice as much staff time.

Technology could help, but it carries costs of its own. Village materials cited Shorewood’s license-plate recognition software as an example.

Removing meters could shift some parking costs from payment hardware toward digital enforcement.

What Could Silver Spring Parking Look Like?

Whitefish Bay’s discussions point toward several possible long-term arrangements.

The village could retain paid parking through a different platform, replace individual meters with kiosks, or test free parking with posted time limits.

It could consider different limits for high-demand customer spaces while improving information about employee parking farther from Silver Spring.

It could introduce license-plate-based enforcement or convert some former meter locations into bicycle parking.

Those possibilities should be distinguished from what drivers are required to do today.

The current payment notice remains the starting point for a visit, while any future trial depends on the village’s implementation decisions and updated public instructions.

What Families Should Know Now

Pay for your parking session and follow the posted limits.

The village lists these payment options:

• ParkMobile.

• The QR code on the parking meter.

• Phone: 877-727-5003.

• Text PARK to 77223.

The official notice says parking enforcement continues.

Do not assume that free parking has begun or that the earlier employee-parking proposal changed the rules on nearby residential streets.

Planning a stop in the district? Browse our Whitefish Bay Patio Dining Guide, our guide to coffee shops across Milwaukee’s North Shore and our guide to kid-friendly restaurants across Greater Milwaukee.

Why This Experiment Is Worth Watching

On the surface, this is a story about an aging parking-meter system and a manufacturer closing its business.

But it could lead to broader changes in how Whitefish Bay manages its business district.

The village is weighing whether paid parking is necessary, whether technology can replace individual meters, how employees and customers should share limited spaces, and whether some curb space could better serve people arriving by bicycle.

Any future trial could help the village decide how to manage customer and employee parking. The current payment requirements remain the practical starting point for a visit.