Reality of new Harrisburg parking rates arrives on Main Street

Source: The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, Pa.迷利倉Jan. 17--Early repercussions of Harrisburg's financial recovery have arrived on main street, as people brace for higher parking rates and more expensive fines.Metered parking rates will double to $3 per hour downtown. Rates at other meters will rise to $1.50 per hour, up from $1.On top of that, people will have to feed the meters until 7 p.m. And people will have to feed them on Saturday also.It will be fiscally unwise to ignore those hungrier meters: Parking ticket fines will increase to $30, up from $14. A late payment fee will push the cost to $50, up from $25.Many of the rates at city parking garages and at City Island also will rise. For example, monthly rates for unreserved garage spots will rise from $155 to $165-$175, depending on the garage, with the rate expected to rise $5-$10 annually through 2017.The new metered parking rates won't take affect until new parking meters are installed, probably in February. The rates have already risen at garages as have parking fines. However, meter enforcers, for the time being, are issuing only warnings to those caught at expired meters during the newly-extended hours.The new rates, which are part of Harrisburg's financial recovery plan, were publicly approved last year. But the new reality is just now hitting the streets."I think it's a real sad situation for anyone who has a business or lives down here," said Pat Hornung Davis, owner of Hornung's True Value on North Second Street.Davis was especially troubled about the extra hours of metering parking on weekdays, and the new metered parking on Saturdays. She has tenants who live in the city and the need to feed the meters for those extra hours will pose a hardship, said said.On Thursday she placed a petition opposing the extended hours near her cash register and had collected 20 signatures by late afternoon."I think people should not take this lying down," she said.Susan Johnson, who owns a clothing store in Strawberry Square, said "I don't think it's fair that we have to give the public another reason to go to the mall."She is concerned $3 an hour is too high. While people commonly pay that much or more in many metropolitan areas, Harrisburg doesn't offer the same concentration of attractions."The bang for the buck doesn't seem to be here," said Johnson, who has owned her store, Ideas and Objects, for 26 years. "I think we should express more gratitude for anyone who comes into the city."But Michael Green, owner of Michael Boyd clothing store on North Third Street, believes the higher rates might help businesses by diminishing the occasions when people park longer than necessary迷你倉 That will cause faster turnover of spots, increasing the chances a customer will find one.As were several merchants, Boyd wasn't concerned about the higher fines, and was more concerned about people who park too long. "There's an easy way to get around the fines -- that's to put some more quarters in the meter," he said.But Saturday parking fees are a subject of worry for Sue Moyer, the manager of the Dress Barn in Strawberry Square. Saturday has always been a day when shoppers knew they could probably find a spot and would pay nothing -- just like at a mall.She expects having to pay park on Saturday will cut into business.Likewise, leaders of Gamut Theatre near Fourth and Market are concerned the extended metered parking will deter patrons such as who might have taking advantage of free parking to dine at a restaurant before a show. And performers and others have to show up well before 7 p.m. for shows and rehearsals, they will be bearing a new expense, Gamut leaders told Mayor Eric Papenfuse during a meeting this week.Papenfuse, who said he would look into the situation, pointed out that the new meters will be "smart meters" capable of accepting a code. That might provide a way to allow theater personnel to park without having to feed meters.There are various other consequences. Standard Parking, the firm that is now leasing the city's parking assets and which will manage them, plans to add more parking meters, including 88 new metered spots in midtown.In other neighborhoods, where people live with rotating parking restrictions based on the street sweeping schedule, people are realizing it will become a lot more expensive if they fail to move their car.There's also the fact that, when a promptly-paid parking ticket only cost $14, it was less expensive, and perhaps more convenient, to leave a car parked illegally or at an overdue meter.Standard Parking, a private company, has a ten-year-old contract to manage Harriburg's 10,369 garage, parking lot and metered street spaces. Money generated from the contract will help pay the city's debt.Sharon Simpson of Plainfield drives to Harrisburg every weekday and feeds a meter while waiting for her husband to get off work.The idea of paying 50 cents for ten minutes of parking strikes her as "absolutely crazy."But after some thought, she speculated the biggest impact -- and loss to the city -- might involve a family who would take in a Harrisburg attraction because of free Saturday parking, and now might stay away.Copyright: ___ (c)2014 The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.) Visit The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.) at .pennlive.com Distributed by MCT Information Services自存倉