Parking meter rate increase affecting downtown retailers
On any given workday, yellow envelopes can be seen tucked between windshields and wiper blades on numerous cars parked in downtown Columbia.
In May the city issued 6,705 total parking tickets — 5,865 of those citations were for expired meters — that rolled in a grand total of $58,650 in revenue for the city, according to documents issued by the Columbia Public Works Administration.
Revenue earned from meter violations is trending upward. In 2007, the city collected $770,000; in 2010, that figure jumped to $870, 500. On July 1, the City Council passed an ordinance that doubled the fee at downtown street meters from 30 cents to 60 cents per hour and increased the fee at meters near the University of Missouri campus from 50 cents to 75 cents per hour.
Most of the revenue gathered from these meters will be used to finance $9.2 million construction of the future Short Street parking garage in the North Village Arts District, said Jill Stedem, public information specialist for the Columbia Public Works Administration. So far in 2011, the city has earned $786,532 from meter violations.
Local business owners are divided on both the increased meter rates and the addition of a new parking garage.
Chatter concerning meter woes is a common occurrence among Coffee Zone customers, said Issam Yanis, manager of the café located on Ninth Street. “Everybody talks about parking,” he said. “[Higher rates] have cut down the number of people coming downtown. We have a bad economy, and people cannot afford to pay $2 at the meter for a cup of coffee.”
Yanis said that along with the overheard complaints, business has slowed. “People have stopped coming downtown,” he said. “There’s less traffic.”
As for the Short Street garage, Yanis said the timing’s bad for constructing a new parking facility.
“Columbia is not a big town,” he said. “With all the extra parking, you’d think you were in Manhattan and not Columbia. The Fifth and Walnut garage was a waste of time and money. Building two garages in one year is too much.” Yanis referenced the current cost controversy surrounding the maintenance of the Fifth and Walnut parking garage, a 10-story facility with 703 available spaces.
Yet at a proposed six stories and 300 spaces, the Short Street garage is a necessary addition, said Christina Kelley, owner of the perfume boutique Makes Scents. “Eight new businesses have opened in that area, and parking is stretched to the limit,” she said. “A new garage built in [the North Village] is more needed [than the garage built at Fifth and Walnut].”
Stedem echoed that opinion, saying there is a demand for more parking in the North Village and that demand will continue to grow with future expansion. “Stephens College needs additional parking, and a new apartment complex is being built that will also require parking,” she said.
Kelley said she not only supports construction of the Short Street garage, but she also welcomed the increased meter rates and said she has heard no complaints from customers. She peeked out her storefront window on Ninth Street and spotted four open spaces, despite the appealing weather and afternoon hours.
“There was always this perception that there was no parking downtown,” Kelley said. “But now that the rates on the street and the rates in the garages are the same, people are encouraged to park in the garages, which leaves open spaces outside business doors.”
As far as the jump in citations for meter violations, Kelley said tickets are inevitable. “I’ve lived in Columbia for 26 years and have lived and worked downtown,” she said. “When I was a student, I got a million parking tickets. That’s just the way it is. And Columbia’s pretty reasonable. Ten dollars seems like a lot, but in other cities parking tickets can cost $20 to $25.”
At the end of the day, increased rates have only caused bitter blood, said Lee Sensintaffar, co-owner of Iron Tiger, a tattoo parlor on 10th Street. “At first I was afraid [higher parking costs] would discourage people from going downtown,” he said. “But I think it’s only made our customers angry at the city.”
In May the city issued 6,705 total parking tickets — 5,865 of those citations were for expired meters — that rolled in a grand total of $58,650 in revenue for the city, according to documents issued by the Columbia Public Works Administration.
Revenue earned from meter violations is trending upward. In 2007, the city collected $770,000; in 2010, that figure jumped to $870, 500. On July 1, the City Council passed an ordinance that doubled the fee at downtown street meters from 30 cents to 60 cents per hour and increased the fee at meters near the University of Missouri campus from 50 cents to 75 cents per hour.
Most of the revenue gathered from these meters will be used to finance $9.2 million construction of the future Short Street parking garage in the North Village Arts District, said Jill Stedem, public information specialist for the Columbia Public Works Administration. So far in 2011, the city has earned $786,532 from meter violations.
Local business owners are divided on both the increased meter rates and the addition of a new parking garage.
Chatter concerning meter woes is a common occurrence among Coffee Zone customers, said Issam Yanis, manager of the café located on Ninth Street. “Everybody talks about parking,” he said. “[Higher rates] have cut down the number of people coming downtown. We have a bad economy, and people cannot afford to pay $2 at the meter for a cup of coffee.”
Yanis said that along with the overheard complaints, business has slowed. “People have stopped coming downtown,” he said. “There’s less traffic.”
As for the Short Street garage, Yanis said the timing’s bad for constructing a new parking facility.
“Columbia is not a big town,” he said. “With all the extra parking, you’d think you were in Manhattan and not Columbia. The Fifth and Walnut garage was a waste of time and money. Building two garages in one year is too much.” Yanis referenced the current cost controversy surrounding the maintenance of the Fifth and Walnut parking garage, a 10-story facility with 703 available spaces.
Yet at a proposed six stories and 300 spaces, the Short Street garage is a necessary addition, said Christina Kelley, owner of the perfume boutique Makes Scents. “Eight new businesses have opened in that area, and parking is stretched to the limit,” she said. “A new garage built in [the North Village] is more needed [than the garage built at Fifth and Walnut].”
Stedem echoed that opinion, saying there is a demand for more parking in the North Village and that demand will continue to grow with future expansion. “Stephens College needs additional parking, and a new apartment complex is being built that will also require parking,” she said.
Kelley said she not only supports construction of the Short Street garage, but she also welcomed the increased meter rates and said she has heard no complaints from customers. She peeked out her storefront window on Ninth Street and spotted four open spaces, despite the appealing weather and afternoon hours.
“There was always this perception that there was no parking downtown,” Kelley said. “But now that the rates on the street and the rates in the garages are the same, people are encouraged to park in the garages, which leaves open spaces outside business doors.”
As far as the jump in citations for meter violations, Kelley said tickets are inevitable. “I’ve lived in Columbia for 26 years and have lived and worked downtown,” she said. “When I was a student, I got a million parking tickets. That’s just the way it is. And Columbia’s pretty reasonable. Ten dollars seems like a lot, but in other cities parking tickets can cost $20 to $25.”
At the end of the day, increased rates have only caused bitter blood, said Lee Sensintaffar, co-owner of Iron Tiger, a tattoo parlor on 10th Street. “At first I was afraid [higher parking costs] would discourage people from going downtown,” he said. “But I think it’s only made our customers angry at the city.”