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ACC Commission Signals Compromise on Downtown Parking

by Chris Anthony
04/05/2009

The Athens-Clarke County Commission could be on the brink of reversing recent changes made to downtown parking fees and fines, thus averting a potential standoff with downtown business owners, a county commissioner said.

After numerous downtown business owners petitioned recent rate increases and time restraints on parking meters, District 5 Commissioner David Lynn said that the commission is likely to change certain elements during Tuesday’s monthly joint meeting with Mayor Heidi Davison.

“I think the vote to reconsider [the parking changes] will pass,” Lynn said. “I also think the discussion to move to two hour parking on Clayton [Street] will pass.”

This development comes after the commission voted to increase expired meter fines from $3 to $10 during its March 3 meeting. The commission also approved hiking the fee for feeding an already-expired meter from $5 to $15 and lowering the time limit on metered parking spaces from two hours to one hour.

But these parking changes were met with disapproval from many downtown business owners. Jane Scott, owner of Native America Gallery, co-authored a petition with Masada Leather & Outdoor owner Irvin Alhadeff addressing business owners’ concerns regarding the price increases and time restraints. Within a week, the petition had garnered 83 signatures from downtown business owners and managers.

Scott said that many businesses were concerned that the changes would detract customers from shopping at downtown locations.

“That’s what we were worried about,” she said. “That we were going to offend people and anger them.”

But business owners were also irked by the fact that they were left out of the loop when the changes were being made.

In a March 24 e-mail to Mayor Davison and county commissioners, Scott told them, “Compounding the problem is that at no time were the majority of us, considered or consulted, whether it be via email, newsletter, or downtown meeting; many of us had no prior knowledge of the depth or complexity of the changes to be made or how and when these changes would take place!”

Kathryn Lookofsky, director of the Athens Downtown Development Authority, said that the changes had come at the recommendation of the ADDA. However, the rate increases that were approved were greater than what the ADDA recommended.

The ADDA recommended increasing the fee for an expired meter to $6, and also suggested that the fine for feeding an already-expired meter be increased to $12.

Commissioner Lynn said that the reasoning behind the extra price increases was to allow for more availability in downtown parking. He said that the current fines do not deter people from parking in the same spot for an excessive amount of time.

“The whole mission of downtown parking is turnover,” Lynn said. “It’s all about availability.”

But Lynn said that the desired turnover is not being achieved because downtown parking fees are comparatively much cheaper than other places.

“[The fines] are dramatically lower than anywhere in the state or country,” he said. “I don’t think it discourages people” from parking for long periods of time.

But both Lynn and Scott agreed that part of the parking availability problem was due to long-term parkers.

Scott said that many downtown businesses’ employees parked in the metered spots on the streets, which limits the number of spots in which customers can park.

“It’s kind of a dilemma,” she said.

But Lynn said that commission is actively trying to move long-term parkers, such as businesses’ employees, to other parking locations.

“We’re trying to move people with long-term parking needs in the decks,” he said.