Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 24, 1992 TAG: 9203240233
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE NEW RIVER VALLEY BUREAU
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
And they want free parking downtown on Saturdays.
Town Council will hear a six-month report at tonight's meeting on downtown-parking meter enforcement. Town Manager Ron Secrist is recommending that police enforce parking meters from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Police currently enforce the meters until 7 p.m.
Council also will hear a proposal for a meter token program that could encourage more shoppers to come downtown.
The report found that over the last six months, more than half the parking tickets written for downtown meters were issued during the evening hours - when most shoppers think the meters are free, merchants say.
Merchants are hoping to get as many town residents as possible to come to Town Hall tonight to voice their concerns, said Judy Murray, co-owner of Fringe Benefits on College Avenue.
"We need other input that the downtown merchants can't keep waging this battle," she said.
"We're trying to fight a mall that has free parking," Murray said, as well as competing with increasing services and restaurants on the Virginia Tech campus.
"The town says they want to work with us," Murray said. Free parking on Saturdays, and after 5 p.m. on weekdays would give downtown merchants a boost, she said.
Another business owner, David Chapman who runs Arnold's Sandwiches with his wife, Connie, said a petition is circulating among citizens, not merchants, for unmetered parking after 5 p.m.
It also raises concerns over the increase of parking fines from $3 to $10.
"Our average customer spends less than $5, and to come out and find a $10 ticket is terrible," Connie Chapman said. "We have so many people complaining. It's hurt everyone's business so much, I could just go on and on."
The parking ticket cost was among the concerns that turned up during the town's parking study, and one that Secrist noted in his memo to council. Secrist said other issues that surfaced include:
Some citizens would rather have certain meters, next to the Post Office, for instance, fixed to take nickels and dimes for shorter stays. Retrofitting the meters would cost $20 per meter, Secrist said.
A program between retailers and the town to give citizens parking tokens, encouraging them to return to the downtown shopping area.
Some downtown employees said more spaces should be provided for employee parking at a reduced cost.
In September 1991, the town installed new meters downtown, mostly at the renovated Progress Street parking lot. On-street meters replaced a two-hour free parking policy. There are now 373 meters downtown.
Merchants soon asked the town to consider cutting back enforcement of meters to 5 p.m. to encourage more people to come downtown in the evening.
The report showed that 3,017 tickets were written between 5 and 7 p.m. from September to March 11. Those tickets yielded $30,170 in revenue. Only 2,778 tickets were written during the same time between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Arnolds customers say police are overzealous in ticketing after 5 p.m., Chapman said. Some have parked their cars at 6:45 p.m., not expecting a ticket.
"They feel like they've just been in a sting operation. It takes a long time for those people to come back" downtown, he said.
Secrist said the town will lose between $7,000 and $10,000 by cutting back enforcement an hour. But since installing the new meters, the town has received more money than originally estimated and will likely get about $70,900 annually. Much of that goes toward paying for the Progress Street lot improvements.
Assistant Town Manager Bonnie Svrcek researched a token program and found a mostly positive response among downtown businesses.
Merchants would buy tokens from the town, and give them to customers, encouraging them to come back downtown to shop, eat, or use other services.
It would cost about $7,500 to fix the meters to take the tokens, Svrcek said.
Another possible problem with the program, as described by other communities using the system, is that employees are prone to use the tokens and park in spaces that should be dedicated to consumers.
Strict management on the part of business owners and managers could help avoid that problem, she said.
She will discuss details of the program with the Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg Inc. at its monthly meeting April 1.
BLACKSBURG TOWN COUNCIL
Blacksburg Town Council meets tonight at 7:30 at the Municipal Building on South Main Street. The agenda includes:
Proposed ordinance requiring annual registration of dangerous animals as defined by the town.
Schedule public hearing for April 14 on proposed ordinance to cut off metered parking downtown at 6 p.m.
Appointments to Planning Commission and New River Valley Planning District Commission.
Public address section.
Executive session concerning litigation relative to current cases involving the town.
by CNB