Cities begin to remove parking meters

[Lunican]

Lemoyne moves toward removing parking meters
by ELLEN LYON, Of The Patriot-News
Thursday March 06, 2008, 10:32 PM

The Lemoyne Borough Council moved closer Thursday night toward eliminating parking meters in the borough and building a new swimming pool.

Councilman Wayne Mountz said the Streets Committee recommends that the borough's parking meters be eliminated because they discourage business and are difficult to enforce, unfriendly and unsightly. "People said, specifically, please take them down," Mountz said.

The borough has about 100 parking meters on Market, Third and Fifth streets and on Hummel Avenue, officials said. They bring in about $7,500 a year.

The council sent the matter to the ordinance committee with the unanimous recommendation that an amendment be drafted to remove the meters and replace them with signs allowing two hours of parking in the business district between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

The draft could come before the council for vote in May or June, council President Shireen Farr said.

Borough Manager Howard Dougherty presented a feasibility study that recommended building a new borough pool. He estimated that with a tube slide the pool would cost about $800,000, of which the borough has about $200,000 in reserve.

The council voted unanimously to apply for a $300,000 state grant for the project.

The borough will budget the additional money needed for the pool in 2009 and 2010 with the hope that construction can begin at the end of the 2009 season, Farr said.

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2008/03/lemoyne_looks_to_eliminate_par.html

[Lunican]

It's Official: Parking Meters' Time In Ybor Has Expired

By KEITH MORELLI  | The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 23, 2008

TAMPA - The last of Ybor City's 202 parking meters was yanked today, and city crews were busy putting up signs that announced a new day in Ybor parking policies.

The poles were capped, and signs announcing two-hour parking limits were posted.

"I'm ecstatic," said Steve Yturriaga, a real estate agent who runs an Ybor City merchants parking committee. "I'm happy to see the meters go. I would like to thank the mayor for making this kind gesture to the merchants of Ybor City."

Public works crews started removing the meters early this morning. Officials thought it would take up to three days, but the meters were gone by midafternoon.

Tampa has worked with the Ybor City Chamber of Commerce, the Ybor City Development Corp., residents and members of the business community to come up with ways to encourage people to visit the entertainment district. The goal has been to make the attractions, shops and restaurants more accessible, according to a written statement from the city.

The new parking plan will make it easier on people who are making short visits to the district. People planning to stay longer than two hours are encouraged to use one of the city's three parking lots or two parking garages, the city says.

Parking rates for the lots and garages will not change.

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/apr/23/its-official-parking-meters-time-ybor-has-expired/

[thelakelander]

Kudos to Ybor.  I'm one of those people who avoided restaurants down there, at certain times, because I didn't feel like dealing with the meters or paying to park in a garage.  Its a proven model that works and its good to see a lot of cities start to realize this, two years after we bought it to the forefront locally.

[thelakelander]

Parking is free in Downtown Raleigh, NC as well.

[Steve]

Totally agree - parking meters are simply a sorce of revenue, or in other terms, a tax.  San Marco, Avondale, 5 Points and Murray Hill all work, and have a grand total of 0 parking meters.

Now, they do have time limits (usually 2-3 hours), so you can't take the space all day.  I'm fine with that.

[Lunican]

I've never seen parking enforcement in San Marco or Riverside. Do they patrol those areas?

[gatorback]

I've never seen a parking meter I liked.  Austin has them, Atlanta has them, Boston, NYC and Jacksonville, etc.  They all suck.  But who wants to raise taxes to build a multi-million dollar parking facility?  Yall don't I know.   And in america private industry flips the bill.  Hello Central Parking?  So, why would a "Central Parking" come to your city when the city is just going to give parking away for free?

[Steve]

I've never seen parking enforcement in San Marco or Riverside. Do they patrol those areas?

If called

[Lunican]

So why is the parking enforcement concentrated downtown? From past discussions with city officials and downtown parking lot owners who were expounding on the advantages of enforcement, one would think that all other parts of town would be begging for meters and increased patrols in their neighborhoods as well.

This doesn't seem to be happening though, so somewhere there is a disconnect between what we've been hearing and the reality of the situation.

[Driven1]

i personally think they were lying.

[Ocklawaha]

I'm not totally opposed to meters depending on WHY they are used. I question the sanity of anyone who thinks they are giant Money Making Machines. Adjusted for costs, O&M, employees, vehicles, printing and court costs do we break even?

Ocklawaha

[thelakelander]

I wonder if Ben Carter would be willing to install meters at the St. Johns Town Center.  Any idea on how the retailers there would react?

[DetroitInJAX]

Im going to have to agree with everybody on these meters.  Rip em up, good riddens.  There's never a moment Ive been unable to find a parking space on the street at any time of the day (except for during huge downtown events).  The downtown retail base has been so liquidated that it doesnt really matter anymore.  Seriously, you come downtown, park, and youre faced with an antiquated meter that only takes quarters and allows you to park only for a wayyyy too short period of time to do any reasonable shopping.... not that anyone is shopping downtown anyway because the above meters killed all the retail (along with suburban sprawl, etc..)

It is really a shame that Jacksonville didnt go down the same road as Savannah... Preserving our history instead of dynamiting all of it.... Now, you go up there, and theyre demolishing parking garages to restore what was there before...  And the meters they have?  At least theyre muni-meters.

Of all the places I've lived, this city is the most retarded of 'em all... (even moreso than Detroit).

[Lunican]

If Peyton & Co. are as serious as they say they are about revitalizing downtown, removing the meters would be one of the most cost effective actions to take.

Other than the three guys that make up the slimy downtown parking lot industry, everyone would love him for it.

[gatorback]

Could you really do that?  Wouldn't it be to the detriment of Central Parking System - The Largest Provider of Parking and Related Services in North America?  Does the city sell and lease back those services?  Is there some deal the city has with CPS?  Like those traffic red lights?  Does the city get a split for parking in exchange for CPS spending millions to build parking lots?