Ann Arbor DDA proposes day/evening parking policies

Wednesday, April 14, 2010 | Source: Concentrate

Reform is coming to a parking meter near you... or, at least, to the people who frequent downtown Ann Arbor. The city's Downtown Development Authority is proposing a number of changes to the central city's parking policy.

Among the changes are extending the enforcement period to 9 p.m. and establishing a price deferential for parking spaces, so spots that are more in demand are more expensive. The idea is to create more turnover in parking spots, allowing more customers to park closer to more businesses and facilitate more commerce.

Expect parking revenue to go up, but that's not what this is about, according to Ann Arbor DDA Executive Director Susan Pollay.

"It shouldn't be about revenue," Pollay says. "It should be about a healthy downtown."

If you follow that line of thinking then parking turnover is the equivalent to a exercise for downtown businesses. Pollay points out that when a downtown employee that camps out at unenforced meter for eight hours, about four or five different customers could have occupied that space in the same time.

High turnover at parking spots, especially metered spaces, means more opportunities for those not familiar with downtown to find convenient parking. The perception of convenient parking makes downtown more competitive with suburban commercial spots that are surrounded by seas of free parking.

"If a business is to do well, it needs to be seen as easy to get to by its customers," Pollay says.

To accomplish this, the DDA is recommending encouraging more downtown employees to take mass transit to and from their jobs. It is also recommending that parking spaces on the street and in parking structures that are not as heavily used, i.e. those on the outskirts of downtown and at the top of parking garages, be cheaper than those spots that are in high demand.

The DDA is also recommending that enforcement be extended to 9 p.m., allowing it to utilize similar daytime policies for a central business district that is rapidly becoming a 24/7 commercial center.

"The evening economy has been evolving and has crept up on us," Pollay says. "We have the framework to handle parking in the daytime and not the nighttime."

Source: Susan Pollay, executive director of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority
Writer: Jon Zemke