They’re not there yet, but the city of Redmond and its downtown merchants could be on their way to creating a special parking zone downtown, an area that would be for visitors and customers, though not for store owners, employees and residents. Simply creating the district won’t be enough, however, if Bend’s history is any indication.

Bend has struggled for years — sometimes without much success — to keep downtown parking spaces available for visitors downtown, not those who work there. It has offered incentives in the form of reduced fees in the city’s parking structure and created a lot for employees at the low end of the wage scale.

One of its most difficult problems has been finding a way to prevent downtown workers from simply pulling forward a few feet when their two hours of free parking in a given space expires.

It addressed the problem in a couple of ways. A person may park for two hours downtown for free. If he moves his car more than 750 feet, a new two-hour clock begins. Less than that, and he can be ticketed at the end of the original two hours.

Too, the city created a special class of fines for what it calls “habitual parking offenders” — those who, despite numerous warning or tickets, continue to overstay their welcome in downtown spaces. Habitual offenders can see their fines double, then triple and finally quadruple if they refuse to honor downtown parking rules. The new rules appear to be working, say officials with the company that manages Bend’s downtown parking program.

Redmond’s downtown business owners are right to be concerned about adequate parking for their customers. It doesn’t take much to persuade potential shoppers to look elsewhere, and having to circle a block several times to find a parking space sends many shoppers elsewhere. At the same time, merchants and others who work downtown are driven by the same impulse shoppers are — the closer they can park to the place they work, the happier they’re likely to be.

For some, being asked to move from the immediate area won’t be a problem. They’ll recognize the value of doing so and will go willingly. For others, however, the city will need sterner measures.