POULSBO — Regardless of what happens at tonight’s public hearing concerning a recent emergency zoning ordinance that pertains to parking requirements in downtown Poulsbo, business leaders are hopeful a solution will finally be found.

The Poulsbo City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the ordinance at 7:15 p.m. tonight in the city council chambers in city hall on Jensen Way.

“I’m glad they’re finally working on it,” Historic Downtown Poulsbo Association president Glenn Anderson said.

The ordinance requires any commercial development that is either new or expanding on an existing footprint to provide on-site or off-site parking to accommodate that increased usage.

“If Central Market or Wal-Mart put a building up without parking that’s no different than downtown,” Anderson said.

Development and redevelopment in downtown can’t continue without first resolving the long-standing issue of limited parking, he said.

“Everybody’s got to come together and come up with a permanent solution,” Anderson said. “We have to put our heads together.”

Even though the Greater Poulsbo Chamber of Commerce represents businesses throughout the city, the downtown parking issue is one that needs to be addressed, chamber executive director Stuart Leidner said.

“We need to pull together to come up with viable solutions, some short term, some long term,” Leidner said.

All those involved need to look at what the options are, regardless of the eventual outcome of the city hall decision, he said.

“We could look at making 3rd Avenue one-way with diagonal parking or increase our enforcement of our existing parking regulations,” Leidner said.

“I think that can be a helpful short-term fix,” Leidner said of the 3rd Avenue option. The issue of where employees park in downtown should also be examined during the process, he said.

As a former downtown business owner, Councilwoman Kimberlee Crowder said she is glad to see the council finally address the parking issue.

“It’s been a controversial issue as long as I’ve lived here,” she said. “Parking often affects a lot of time where people spend their dime.”

In addition to addressing the persistent issue, the ordinance also protects the small business owners downtown who are directly impacted by the parking crunch, she said.

“I’m just happy we’re finally taking a step in that direction,” Crowder said.