Parking changes could hit downtown streets

The city expects to begin introducing paid parking to the streets of downtown Lynchburg as early as next spring or summer.

A tentative timeline suggests that electronic pay stations — not unlike the one already installed in the midtown parking deck — could start arriving around that time. The machines would be phased in throughout downtown over a period of three years, according to the schedule, which is still subject to change.

The exact nature of the future parking system has not yet been decided. Officials are currently soliciting proposals for a new parking management system. The deadline for vendors to submit a proposal is Sept. 29.

Lynchburg’s transition to paid downtown parking was recommended by a 2007 study and has been a goal of city administration ever since. The plan is designed to get longer-term visitors out of the district’s on-street parking and into off-street lots and decks. The more convenient curbside spaces would then be freed up for shoppers.

Today, City Council will be asked to make a series of amendments to the parking code in order to bolster the downtown plans.

If approved, the changes would take effect Jan.1.

The changes, recommended by the Lynchburg Parking Authority, include new provisions for the looming paid parking system and increases to various fines and fees.

In earlier discussions, parking authority members agreed that the city’s current fines and fees were out-of-date and insufficient to prod drivers into compliance with the new parking regulations.

Under the terms of the proposed revisions, which will be considered by council during a meeting tonight, the $10 fine for parking past the specified time limit will rise to $20. The $20 fine for parking in prohibited areas will rise to $30.

If approved, this will mark the first time these fines have been adjusted in more than 10 years.

Bigger bumps would be seen in the permit fees charged for residential parking. Currently, a downtown resident whose building doesn’t provide any parking can make use of city space for an annual fee of $3.

The code amendments suggest that fee be pushed to $15 a year for certain areas of Church and Court streets and $300 for the rest of the designated downtown central business district.

The reason for that discrepancy in price was not immediately clear.

The amendments also create a section addressing the future paid parking stations. The added language requires compliance with pay station rules and prohibits vandalism of the machines.

Other notable changes include the striking of a section that gives special parking leeway to jurors reporting to one of the downtown courthouses. Moving forward, the city expects jurors to make use of normal public parking, including long-term spaces available in the Clay Street deck, said parking manager Norman Hale.

It is not clear how much money the city has to pay for any future parking improvements. In 2007, officials had a cache of $250,000 to support the downtown work. Since then, that money has been tapped to fund the parking study, the parking manager’s salary and benefits, and the installation of a temporary pay station in the midtown parking deck.

City officials were unsure Monday how much money remains in the parking fund.

Under the tentative schedule outlined in the city’s 22-page request for parking proposals, officials indicate they hope to sign a contract for a new system by mid-January and begin installing new pay stations as early as the end of April.

The specifications detailed in the request leave some room for vendors to suggest the exact nature of the system, although the city does insists on certain things, such as a fully electronic system capable of accepting payment through cash, credit card, cell phone or special tokens that can be sold to individuals and merchants.

The request does not demand the system be able to provide the first hour of parking free. Officials have suggested in the past that some type of complimentary period would be offered under any new system.

Council will consider the suggested amendments to the parking ordinance during a meeting at 7:30 p.m. today in City Hall, 900 Church St.

A work session will also be held today in the same location at 5 p.m. Topics will include the much-debated big-box ordinance, which seeks to more closely regulate the construction of large retail stores.