The Flagstaff City Council voted 5-2 this week to reintroduce parking meters to 400 spaces in the downtown area, which includes Route 66, reports the Arizona Daily Sun.
I’m not necessarily against parking meters, especially if they stop those who squat on spaces for hours or even days at a time.
But there’s reason to be concerned about Flagstaff’s $1.2 million meter plan:
- Downtown merchants are split on whether the meters will hurt or help their businesses. If all of them were clamoring for meters, then they would seem more justified.
- The plan doesn’t address parking spillover into nearby residential areas.
- The plan does not address the most pressing concern — building a downtown parking garage. There’s not one yet planned, nor is it funded.
According to a study, downtown has a deficit of at least 200 parking spaces. You’d think the most prudent thing would be is to build that parking garage, then install meters if the space problem doesn’t improve. It seems to me that Flagstaff is doing this backwards.
People already are hesitant to go downtown to go shopping, a complaint I hear from people around town often, this is only another barrier to entry and will further hurt those buisness. That a parking garage isn’t part of the plan is pure shortsightedness. Predicted headline form Daily Sun in 2010 “City Officials seek to help stalled downtown merchants”.
Wait a minute. The plan does address the parking garage including funding an immediate study on how many spaces, where, how much and how it could be paid for. The Downtown Management Plan is about more than meters, and by the way they are pay stations, and include better security, trash collection, cleaning, events and yes, a garage. Garages take years however and lots of people squat for days in spaces. So, either everybody gets tickets including visitors, or you put money into a pay station. Or, locals and tourists can stay away because there is no on street parking!