NEWS
Council waits on city meter change
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by Heather Quitos
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
Visitors to the downtown area will not see changes to parking meter enforcement just yet, as the Madison City Council voted Tuesday to reconsider the proposal in a city committee.
Such amendments proposed to raise parking meter fees and lengthen the number of hours of meter enforcement in the area.
Various residents spoke at the proposal's public hearing, expressing opposition mostly to the proposed increase of enforcement hours from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
"It's a perception of convenience," said Mary Carbine, executive director of the Madison Central Business Improvement District. "Extending the hours would have a negative impact [on downtown marketing]."
As an assessment district, the Madison Central Business Improvement District works to market the State Street and Capitol Square area.
But Carbine felt increasing the number of hours from the current schedule, which currently enforces parking meter fees 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., would deter visitors from the area.
Madison resident Mary Lang Sollinger also felt the proposed hour increase will turn the negative perception into a reality.
"It's important to keep the 8 [a.m.] to 6 [p.m.] hours," Sollinger said after the hearing. "We have to keep the convenience for the public in mind."
According to Carbine, the current perception of people traveling downtown is already negative.
"It's difficult to park, it's an inconvenience to come here," she said, adding many people who come to the downtown make plans after 6 p.m. so they will not have to pay the parking meter fees.
Sollinger also noted downtown residents who park on the street would have to get up earlier in the morning to move their cars.
"I'm concerned with what the public sees," she remarked. "People will pay for parking, but only at their convenience."
A similar proposal raised in Milwaukee was reversed because the city received so many complaints, Sollinger said.
The amendments, which also proposed to raise 10-hour parking meter fees from 35 cents to 50 cents and all other meters from $1 to $1.10, did not receive much discussion.
Other evidence that the entire proposal may need further tweaking was shown when the hearing had no registrants in support of the proposal.
With the referral, the city's Transit and Parking Commission may rework the proposal before it goes back to City Council at a later date.
Anonymous (May 14, 2006 @ 11:50pm):
Parking in Madison is already expensive enough-- especially downtown!
