More on-street spaces available in central business district

Downtown parking meter officers are writing fewer tickets these days, and on-street parking seems easier to find, possible signs that higher penalties for parking meter violations have been effective, a parking official said.

"We are issuing fewer tickets for people parking beyond the legal limit, said Laura Miller, director of parking services for the Athens Downtown Development Authority, which manages parking services in downtown. "We've written almost 20,000 fewer citations since (July 1)."

Last year, the Athens-Clarke Commission approved parking rate and fine increases that took effect July 1. Meter rates were raised from a quarter to 50 cents per hour, and penalties were increased from $3 to $10 for an expired meter and from $5 to $15 for feeding quarters into an already-expired meter. Additionally, the commission approved extending the maximum parking time to 2-hour for on-street parking.

Members of the Athens Downtown Development Authority had asked for the changes - though they requested lower penalties of $6 and $12 - in order to stop downtown employees and University of Georgia students from parking all day in metered spaces. Until last year, on-street parking was a scarce commodity to anyone who came downtown to shop or eat during the day.

Now, however, on-street spaces are available throughout the day along downtown's busy streets, and Miller attributes it to the steeper fines.

"I think the price change has made a significant impact; it's doing what it's designed to do," Miller said. "When somebody could park all day for only $8 (paying the total in violation fines), that's inexpensive parking, but now it's $25 (in fines) to stay all day."

Kathryn Lookofsky, director of the ADDA agrees that the new fines have done what they were intended to do.

"(The fines) are accomplishing what we wanted, in that people who work downtown are moving to longer-term spaces," Lookofsky said. "That was the goal all along, to free up on-street parking for customers and to move people who work downtown to the periphery."

The "periphery" refers to surface lots blocks away from the center of downtown and to the multi-story parking deck on College Avenue.

The ADDA not only manages the on-street parking, but also long-term parking in five surface lots that encompass 434 spaces and the College Avenue Deck, which has 337 spaces.

The number of people requesting long-term parking in the deck and surface lots has more than doubled since parking meter fines were hiked, according to ADDA records.

Prior to raising the parking violation fines, the ADDA got few inquiries from downtown workers about long-term parking, but now a growing number of employees from downtown businesses are asking for those spaces, ADDA records indicate.

Of a recent count of 327 people on the waiting list for the College Avenue Deck, 129 were downtown employees, according to ADDA records, and 67 of the 182 people waiting for available space in surface lot parking spaces were downtown employees.

Downtown businessman Rusty Heery, owner of Heery's Clothes Closet and Heery's Too thinks the new fines have helped steer downtown workers away from the on-street parking near their stores.

"I think (the increase in fines) has been successful in getting a lot of employees off the street parking meters, which is a good thing," Heery said.

As for students, though, Heery thinks UGA's addition of decks on the university campus - rather than the hike in parking fines - has reduced the number of students who park downtown. Heery misses the days when students did park downtown to attend classes, then shopped and ate downtown before getting in their cars and leaving, he said. Students brought their business to downtown merchants, he said.

Another downtown merchant, Irvin Alhadeff, said customers who shop at his business, Masada Leather and Outdoor, have benefited from the new availability of on-street parking.

"I think (the change in fines) actually helped people shop, and opened up parking in downtown," said Alhadeff, who was worried that the higher fines would drive away downtown shoppers.

He's been pleasantly surprised, he said.

"I've had customers come in and say, 'I found space right in front of the store,' " Alhadeff said. "Business ha

Comment on "More on-street spaces available in central business district"