The Charlottesville City Council met Wednesday and voted to make several changes in the downtown area regarding parking.
The City Council approved a six-month pilot program to put parking meters on the street parking around the Downtown Mall. The meters would cost $1.80 per hour from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Currently, street parking near the Downtown Mall is free. There is also paid parking in various garages downtown. Rick Siebert, the city parking manager, said on-street parking is more desirable than garage parking and should cost more.
“If the on-street spaces are the most desirable, they clearly ought to have the highest price and value to the public while the garages should have the lowest price,” Siebert said.
In addition to adding parking meters to street parking, the Council voted to lower the cost to park in the Market Street Garage. The current cost at the Market Street Garage is $2.50 per hour. The Council voted to reduce the cost to $1.50 per hour after the first hour, which will be free.
Siebert said the goal of this reduction is to balance parking economy downtown. According to the city, on-street parking is more valuable to residents, so it will be more expensive, while parking in the garage will be less expensive.
The Council also agreed to create a parking advisory panel as part of the parking meter installation. The panel’s job will be to advise the city on the new program.
“The intent of the Panel will be to guide City staff and Council in making decisions regarding the use of existing public parking resources and concerning the construction of any future additional public or privately owned parking supply,” the City Council agenda read. “Emphasis will be on the role of parking in the support of a vibrant and diverse downtown retail environment.”
The panel will have seven permanent members who will be business owners, local residents and employees in the area.
The parking meters are expected to cost $50,000 to install and are planned to be installed by Sept. 1.
The Council also discussed parking for people who work downtown.
“There is no current program for employee parking beyond monthly parking permits at the City Garages,” the agenda read. “The current permit rate for the Market Street Garage is $135.00 monthly and there is a waiting list for these permits. Even if more permits were made available, many downtown employees do not work standard 40 hour five day weeks and may find the $135.00 rate unaffordable.”
Given this, the Council proposed distributing all-day parking vouchers to businesses for $6.50. This way, businesses could offer the vouchers to employees and each could individually decide what to charge employees for parking. Businesses could decide to pay fully for employee parking, pay partially, or have employees cover the whole cost.
The City Council also approved a special use permit for development on East Jefferson Street. Developers are planning to build 126 residential units downtown.
The Council discussed providing funds to the proposed Vinegar Hill Monument, which is planned to reside on the grounds of the Jefferson School. The monument is meant to commemorate the historic Vinegar Hill neighborhood.
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