Mayor And Council Voted to Change Parking Fees for Town Center

At >last night’s meeting, the Mayor and Council unanimously approved a new parking fee plan for Rockville Town Center. As many readers know, all the parties involved have been grappling with the expanded parking fees which went into effect on October 5, 2009.

Although the item was not on the Agenda, Councilmember John Britton made a motion containing history, explanations, and commentary, which needed to be clarified a few times. To the best of my knowledge, the motion included the following. If it’s not exactly right, please let me know.

1. Increase in monthly parking spaces available to 400 while charging a competitive $65 per month. The City will partner with the merchants to market this campaign and attract additional monthly parkers using Metro.
2. Street meters will charge from Monday to Saturday from 7 AM to 10 PM at a rate of $1 per hour.
3. Garages will charge $1 per hour from 7 AM to 6 PM. From 6 PM until 10 PM, the charge will be a $1 flat fee per visit.
4. No charge for parking in the garages on Saturday.

Mr. Britton explained his reasoning for the motion and here my interpretation. Even in the highest usage days, 400 monthly parking spaces could be accommodated. Charging at meters will encourage a good turnover of spaces so that the same vehicles are not parking for free all day. Data indicates Rockville is overcharging in the evenings compared to Silver Spring and Gaithersburg.

The motion was seconded by Councilmember Phyllis Marcuccio, who was the first to clarify the wording. She detailed her recent efforts to have the parking fees reconsidered by the City Council. Her second allowed the motion to be discussed.

Councilmember Anne Robbins said she wanted to bring a sense of reality to the parking fee discussion. She spoke about the United States being in the greatest recession since the 1930’s so we can’t say we will have business as usual. She declared we need to do something because the worst thing would be for Town Center to fail.

Councilmember Piotr Gajewski found the proposal attractive and said he would start referring to it as the “Trapper Martin Motion”. For readers who don’t know, Trapper Martin, a business leader in Town Center who is running for Council, has been working on a proposal from the merchants which was posted on Rockville Central. Councilmember Gajewski recounted the history of the vote on November 8, 2008 when all five council members decided to expand the paid garage parking hours. He tried to table the motion so that it could be put on the agenda within the next couple of weeks and allow time to study the proposal. He did not like governing “on the fly” and said a free-wheeling discussion is not good governance. He wanted the opportunity to deliberate and speak with his neighbors. He felt he was being forced to vote using his “best guess”. The biggest question in his mind was how much the changes will cost the City. He said he would support the motion if the budget cuts necessary to fund it were identified.

Staff were providing new analysis during the meeting because the motion was slightly different than Trapper Martin’s original proposal which was reviewed for the Mayor and Council earlier in the day. The staff estimates for revenue were based on usage at 75% of the current levels. Burt Hall, Director of Recreation and Parks, reported a new calculation which estimated the reduction in revenue to be about $180,000. City Manager Scott Ullery said the City could draw on the reserves which were healthy in order to cover the lower projections for one year. Mayor Susan Hoffmann questioned which reserves, and Mr. Ullery responded “the parking fund”.

Mayor Hoffmann spoke about meeting with the merchants last week and stated she was 100% committed to the success of Town Center. She said we need to do everything possible to keep it healthy and she saw this motion as the best approach.

Councilmember Marcuccio called the question and the vote was unanimous in favor of the motion. However, no beginning date was included.

When questioned, Mr. Ullery thought the parking garage could be reprogrammed by this Saturday, but he did not know how long it would take to reprogram the changes for the weekday rates.

So, you most likely will be able to park in the Rockville Town Center garages for free this Saturday. Soon you will also be able to pay a flat $1 fee in the garages after 6 PM on weekdays to go to dinner or do your shopping. If you want the convenience of a parking meter, you’ll have to pay $1 hour from 7 AM until 10 PM.

UPDATE: It looks like the entire system will be reprogrammed for this weekend. The City of Rockville Press Release on the new paid parking hours states:

Beginning Friday, Oct. 16, parking in the garages Monday through Friday will cost $1 per hour between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. and $1 per entry between 6 and 10 p.m. Parking in the garages will be free weekdays after 10 p.m., Saturdays, Sundays and City holidays.

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