“It’s not the public policy I have concerns about, it’s the process. There’s nothing wrong with saying that while we support what is being said, we don’t like how it was done here.”
— Transportation Commissioner Andrew Schneider
A last minute plea from local business owners and lingering doubts compelled the Transportation Commission to reconsider, and ultimately recommend deferring, a proposal from Arlington County’s Department of Environmental Services to increase the meter rates and hours.
At the April 2 meeting of the Transportation Commission, Parking Manager Michael Connor presented the proposal for the commission’s approval before it goes to the County Board for a vote on April 18. The meter rates would increase by $.25 from $1.25 to $1.50 per hour in short-term parking and from $1 to $1.25 in long-term parking. The second part of staff’s plan would extend the Monday through Saturday meter hours, which currently ends at 6 p.m., to 8 p.m.
The last meter increase was in 2012, when meters in Arlington increased from $1 per hour to $1.25 for short term
According to Connor, the rate increase is in keeping with parking rates in the surrounding area. In Alexandria, short term parking is $1.75 per hour and in D.C., parking costs can go up to $2 per hours in premium demand areas.
The Transportation Engineering and Operations Division of Arlington County’s Department of Environmental Services Parking in Arlington currently operates in a deficit. It costs between $10 million to $10.5 million to operate on street and off street spaces, a cost which includes maintenance and enforcement of parking law. In 2014, The Transportation Engineering and Operations Division of Arlington County’s Department of Environmental Services collected $7 million in revenue, leaving a $3 million budget deficit. With the increased meter rate and longer hours, Connor estimated an additional $1.9 million would be generated in revenue without any substantial addition to expenditures. But Connor also emphasized that revenue isn’t the primary decision making factor behind the increase. According to Connor, Arlington needs to maintain a mix of appropriate users for its parking network, and the county’s reasoning is that a two-hour limit to spaces provides greater turnover for nearby businesses.
“When we look at our parking meters and we look at our parking system, we’re not salivating over dollars and cents,” said Connor. “It’s about how the roadside metered spaces benefit the activities around them; whether that’s a park, a restaurant, a dry cleaners, or an office building … This fee is necessary to encourage turnover.”
The move is also intended to move parking towards underutilized garages. According to Connor, at the Ballston parking deck, one of the four parking garages managed by the county, only 60 percent of the building’s 2,800 parking spaces are filled during peak occupancy hours.
“When you drive down the street, if you see sandwich boards on the sidewalk with an early bird special,” said Connor, “that’s a garage that’s mostly empty and they’re trying to make revenue any way they can.”
Connor also said that the county is continuing to move away from single space coin-fed meters, or “dummy meters” as Connor calls them, towards “smart meter” technology. Currently, 50 percent of Arlington’s parking, or 2,616 spaces, have a corresponding single space “dummy meter.” There are 325 multi-space meters covering 2,553 spaces and 74 single space “smart meters.” However, usage of these meters has shifted radically. In 2007, 75 percent of parking was paid for through coin-operated meters. In 2014, only 25 percent of parking is coin based.
However, while one of the stated objectives of the increase was to benefit the Arlington business community, local businesses responded with adamant rejection of the proposal.
“If customers start getting tickets, they’ll be upset,” said Karen Orlando, owner of Mexicali Blues on Wilson Boulevard, who said she had a bigger problem with extending the meter hours to 8 p.m. than raising the meter cost. “We don’t want people driving their cars to be deterred. Free parking after 6 p.m. is one of the last good bastions in this community. I suggest we find a new way to fund the new meters.”
Greg Cahill, president of the Clarendon Business Association, said that the proposed increases sound helpful but would be harmful in the long run.
“It’s penny-wise and pound-foolish,” said Cahill. “If we need money for the county, we need to go after it another way. We need to figure out how to get more money to come to Clarendon. We make money on the sales tax and meals tax, not nickeling and diming the meters.”
Cahill said he opposes both the increase in meter costs and the extended hours.
“There are some places people can go without having to spend anything at all,” said Cahill. “That’s money they’re not turning around and spending in a restaurant or grocery store. If they left it alone, it’d be fine. You don’t attract customers by extending the meter hours, it’s counter productive.”
Like Orlando, Cahill predicted the longer meter hours would lead to an increase in ticketing, which would devastate local businesses.
“We’re not talking .25 cents more they’re paying for parking now, we’re talking $30 more, and those people might not come back,” said Cahill. “We need to get more people to come to Clarendon, not charge more to the people who do come. That’s not a transportation issue, that’s an economic development issue.”
Some of the Transportation Commission members questioned the methods being used by county staff. Commission member James Schroll expressed concerns that Connor was asking the commission to support this proposal to the County Board without any substantial data to support the change. A study relating to the effects of parking in Arlington is expected to be released in June, and some on the commission said they were uncomfortable supporting such a decision without data.
“We’ve waited four years for a [meter] increase and now we’re going to move forward on this in 19 days?” asked Andrew Schneider. “It’s not the public policy I have concerns about, it’s the process. There’s nothing wrong with saying that while we support what is being said, we don’t like how it was done here.”
“I don’t think this will magically solve the street parking problem and there’s nothing to say it will support businesses,” said Commission member Garrett McGuire. “We’re looking at something we don’t have the information on.”
Others, like Chairman Chris Slatt, were not as dead set on having a completed data survey before making a decision.
“I’m a data guy,” said Slatt, “but it’s ludicrous to have an opportunity to move somewhere in the right direction and not take it.”
However, the majority on the commission agreed that while they didn’t disapprove of the increase, there was insufficient information to warrant immediate approval. The commission passed a motion that called on the County Board to defer of all action regarding the meter fare and hours increase until more community conversations can be held on the topic. The meter increases will be brought to the County Board on April 18.
“I was very pleased and surprised with the results,” said Orlando. “I feel like what I came here to get done actually happened. They voted to defer for the right reasons, they really stood up for this, it wasn’t just lip service. I don’t know what’s going to happen in the long run, but tonight, I’m excited.”
Number of garage spaces corrected