Do you drive in downtown Columbus? You may have to start paying to park soon.

Columbus drivers could have to pay up to $2 an hour for downtown street parking next year if Columbus Council decides to install parking meters.

Downtown business owners, employees and patrons have increasingly found on-street parking difficult as the business and restaurant scene continues to grow and as more people move to the area.

The current timed parking zones in place often result in tickets of $40 for drivers who are unable move their vehicles within the time allotted.

As a result, city officials have decided to try parking meters in an attempt to incentivize drivers to use the free and low-cost parking garages downtown, increasing turnover in front of restaurants and businesses.

Deputy City Manager Lisa Goodwin said during a council meeting Tuesday that a newly-formed committee composed of city and METRA staff as well as members of Uptown Columbus Inc. and Columbus State University will be evaluating parking meter options in January.

A public input meeting is expected in February 2020 for citizens to voice their opinions on if, where, when and how parking meters should be implemented in the downtown parking area. Council could decide on an ordinance, meter type and a vendor for the meters as early as March.

City staff is hoping to place the meters in strategic areas.

“We don’t want to say what those areas are going to be, we want to hear from the public,” Goodwin said. “It’s not about parking enforcement, it’s all about parking management. Really at the end of the day we want to provide opportunities for everyone to be able to utilize parking on-street, and so we’ve got to have that constant turnover and this is going to help us get to that point.”

Audit recommends meters

The downtown parking area is managed by METRA’s parking management division. It starts at Bay Avenue near the Chattahoochee River and stretches east to Third Avenue, and encompasses the area from Ninth Street north to 14th Street.

Much of the parking district has 2-hour limits, while there are some 4-hour and 8-hour zones scattered within it, as well as reserved parking areas.

The 2-hour and 4-hour parking zones are enforced 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and violations result in a $40 ticket for a first time violation. The ticket will double to $80 if not paid within 10 days.

An audit published by the city’s internal auditor John Redmond in September recommended meters in the downtown area, stating the current system “causes harm to uptown businesses and their patrons,” which could force them to take their business elsewhere.

“The bottom line is that zone parking time limits results either in a citation or in the movement of the vehicle from curb parking in one block to a space in another,” the audit reads. “It is not causing a shift to those employees and patrons to park in one of the parking garages with an abundance of empty spaces, as should be the goal and the result of an effective parking management program.”

Why the meters could work

It’s the goal of metered parking to get drivers to use parking decks. Parking decks in the downtown area include the River Center parking deck, which is free, the Bay Avenue garage, which imposes a small fee, and the first floor of the garage on Front Avenue, which is also free.

Those who live downtown can pay $25 per year for unlimited street parking.

In the audit report, Redmond wrote that improvements to the current parking garages in terms of safety, lighting and cleanliness would help make the decks more attractive to patrons.

With meters, drivers would be paying a nominal cost for premium parking rather than being punished for exceeding a zone time limit that does not work for all types of businesses in a block zone, according to the audit. Parking staff would still issue citations for parking time beyond the paid time purchased.

The audit states that an ordinance would be necessary to establish the hourly rate for street parking, likely in the $1 to $2 per hour range. Revenue from the meters could be used to fund the costs associated with the meters, street parking and parking garages including maintenance and utilities, as well as parking equipment and management, according to the audit.

Many other cities in Georgia already implement parking meters. Downtown Macon installed 577 smart parking meters over a year ago to increase turnover in prime parking spots.

Those meters can be paid using smartphone apps, a technology that could be adopted in Columbus.

This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 11:54 AM.