The Charlottesville City Council approved the Parking Management Implementation Plan Monday night, adding metered parking spots costing $2 dollars per hour around the Downtown Mall.
The plan prices metered spots at with a 50-cent increment at each 15 minutes parked. For very short-term parking needs, a 30-minute free period of parking is applicable. The metered time runs from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with a two-hour limit on the newly metered spaces.
The plan was proposed in order to guarantee that customers making shorter trips downtown will have a place to park and was a result of a parking study authorized by the City Council.
“The proposed parking plan will institute metered parking on a trial basis and serve as a customer-convenience policy for very short-term parking needs,” Miriam Dickler, City Council director of communications, said in an email statement.
Dickler also said the City Council asked staff to consider the needs of employees in the downtown area in hopes of facilitating their parking needs. However, businesses downtown have mixed responses concerning this new plan.
“My opinion, and I think that a lot of businesses would agree with me, is that the opportunity with the parking meters is that there will be more people interested in making shorter trips,” George Benford, Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville chair, said.
A longtime concern of the Downtown Mall is the scarcity of parking in the area. Many of the existing parking spots are often taken by employees.
“We want to make sure that whatever the cost is, that it’s not going to be used primarily by employees,” Benford said. “The reason people can’t find a parking place is because employees are using [them].”
However, Benford also recognizes the importance of meeting employees’ needs and the difficulties the new proposal will create.
“Employees are essential to each of the businesses, and while some employers have waiters and waitresses and servers [who] have very minimal pay … for them to fork out $2 an hour is not going to be feasible,” Benford said.
Amanda Bower, a Timberlake Drug Store employee, said the new meters may make parking difficult for those who work downtown by causing them to arrive several hours before their shifts to find a free parking space.
“If I have to park in a metered spot, that cuts into the paycheck that I have, and every penny counts when you live on a budget,” Bower said.
Benford said employees’ concerns will be addressed.
“Employee parking or shuttles is a reality that can happen, and absolutely needs to be looked at,” Benford said.
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