In city after city, Walker Parking Consultants pushes
controversial fee and fine hikes
COLUMBIA, 4/9/11 (Beat Byte)
-- Starbucks founder Howard Schultz figured out how to brew extra
bucks from a cup of Joe.
Red light camera purveyors decoded the secret to squeezing
out more traffic ticket revenue. And a parking consultant twice hired by the
City of Columbia seems to be paving cities around the country green --
with parking fees hiked to the sky that may prove decidedly unfriendly to
downtown businesses at the mercy of City Hall's parking monopoly.
From Kansas City to Cincinnati, Walker Parking
Consultants (WPC) -- first hired in 2009 to design Columbia's much-maligned eight story downtown garage on 5th and
Walnut, and tapped again last week for the
princely sum of $503,000.00 to design a second garage on Short Street --
has persuaded city leaders to boost parking fees and fines to pay for what else
-- more parking.
"The price of parking could soar...under
a proposal presented to a Kansas City committee Wednesday," the
Kansas City Star reported in Dec. 2007. "At the
request of the public works department, Indianapolis-based Walker
Parking Consultants...suggested adding 1,500 parking meters in the
downtown area and increasing the cost, which would boost revenues by 35 percent
to $1.3 million."
"Rates for downtown parking meters will double
to $2 per hour on Aug. 1, while monthly rates at city-owned downtown
garages will jump by 4 percent to 37 percent," the Cincinnati Business Courier reported last
July. "The rate hikes were recommended by
Walker Parking Consultants...and adopted in a series of motions
passed by Cincinnati City Council Wednesday. Six neighborhood business
districts will see a doubling of street-meter rates to 50 cents
an hour under the ordinance."
Even as far west as Santa Monica, California, Walker
Parking Consultants is making the pitch for pricier parking.
"Parking in downtown public garages could soon
force visitors to dig deeper into their wallets," reported the Santa Monica Daily Press in August
2009. "The City Council next month is
expected to take up the question of whether to increase rates....The suggestion
by Walker Parking Consultants is to increase the maximum daily
rate for parking from $7 to $9, raise the evening prices for vehicles entering
after 6 p.m. from $3 to $5, the monthly permits from $82.50 to $121, and reduce
the free two-hour daytime parking to one hour."
The push here is
already in full swing. "Columbia could double parking meter rates to 60 cents
an hour and extend enforcement time to raise more money, Assistant City Manager
Tony St. Romaine said," according to the Columbia Daily
Tribune.
Though he didn't cite WPC's PPP -- Pricey Parking
Playbook -- Columbia Mayor Robert McDavid says he doesn't fully trust
the firm, mainly because their garage designs seem to maximize size and minimize
taste.
In a no-confidence vote at last Monday's City Council meeting, McDavid countered Columbia public works director John Glascock, who told Council members he thought Walker did a fine job on the Fifth and Walnut garage. McDavid disagreed, citing its grotesque misalignment with the city skyline. As a Boone Hospital trustee, McDavid and fellow trustees also turned WPC aside for not one, but two parking garage designs.
"Based on my experience, I don't have the confidence that
the city does," McDavid told Glascock.
The unintended consequences of
Walker's aggressive pricing aren't lost on residents and businesses, especially
in communities where malls and other alternatives stand ready with free
parking to swipe customers from downtown. A
Cincinnati resident reviewing her city's parking fee increases begged WPC to
back off.
"Please, Walker Parking Consultants, I urge you to
begin listening to the citizens' needs, not what's going to rake in
revenue," wrote Aislin on a Yelp review of the firm. "We're Cincinnati, not Chicago. We need affordable parking
downtown. Just like any business, if you keep the people happy and treat them
fairly, they will patronize downtown more often and generate
extra revenue for the city."
If reports in other cities are any guide, Columbia's
downtown merchants may need to start thinking the same.
RELATED:
McDavid vs. Glascock, roughly 18 minutes into the
video
NEXT UP: "Politicians need to
get a clue"
I recall hearing Tony St. Romaine say that raising revenue from meters and strong enforcement of expired meters would also ensure parking space turnover.
ReplyDeletePersonally, my favorite space on the Monopoly Board was "Free Parking."
Businesses in The District could purchase parking meter tokens from the city and give them to their customers as a Thank You for shopping downtown. It would be nice to get at least your first half hour for free.
Also, how much are those bicycle riders being charged for those spots previously used by motorists? Squeeze the motorists enough and they will stop coming. Does PedNet really think The District will survive exclusively on pedestian, bus riders and cyclist patrons?
Any disclosure on how that $25 million dollars of Federal Taxpayer money has been spent to displace or inconvenience the average motorist in Columbia?