Study recommends Delray switch to paid parking downtown

By David Sedore, Palm Beach Business.com

DELRAY BEACH — The days of free parking on Atlantic Avenue and Delray’s downtown appear to be numbered.

A study by consulting firm Kimley-Horn and Associates commissioned by the city recommends that meters be placed along Atlantic and on adjacent streets and parking lots and charge as much as $1.25 an hour to park in premium spots.

Presently, the city charges for parking in the beach district east of the Intracoastal Waterway and on a limited basis in the two municipal garages in the downtown. Under the Kimley-Horn plan, beach parking wouldn’t change, but paid parking in the garages would be extended significantly. Parking along West Atlantic, where the city is encouraging development, would remain free.

Poorna Bhattacharya and Christopher Heggen of Kimley-Horn presented the study during two public meetings Monday. The firm likely will present the study to city commissioners some time in August. Commissioners would have the final say on the issue.

Implementing paid parking would take considerable time, as the city works out myriad issues and policies, such as rates, times, time limits and enforcement. It would have to be reviewed by various boards, and beyond that commissioners likely would seek opinions from businesses and residents.

Convincing downtown businesses and city residents of the advantages of paid parking won’t be easy. Delray Beach has had parking meters along the downtown before. "Twice we tried it; twice we failed," said Cecelia Boone, a commercial realtor and a member of Delray's Parking Management Advisory Board. "So we're a little shell shocked."

Said Bhattacharya: “Charging for parking in every city is always met with resistance, and understandably so. If it's done right, it can be very successful.”

Tough economic times won’t make it any easier to convince merchants and patrons that it is the right thing to do. But Bhattacharya said the case can be made. For one, the money generated from the fees can be used to make the downtown more attractive by funding things like more police patrolling,  better lighting and better bus shuttle service.

“It can be a tool to help spur economic development,” Bhattacharya said. “It’s something that can be coupled with redevelopment.”

The other argument is that by charging for parking, the city essentially is establishing a user's fee. The people who use the parking pay for it rather than the taxpayers.

There is, of course, fear that paid parking will drive patrons away from the downtown and to other parts of the city or even out of the city to places where parking is free. But Heggen said there is a reason why people come to the downtown that will keep people coming even with paid parking.

"There is a certain charm to downtown Delray Beach that you can't find anywhere else," Heggen said.

The switch would require a $1.9 million investment in equipment and other costs. According to Kimley Horn, the city would recover the cost in 20 months.

Other recommendations by Kimley Horn included:

— Charging a higher rate on Atlantic Avenue and the immediate area, say $1.25 an hour, and a lesser rate further away from the downtown core to open up more premium spaces for those patronizing stores and restaurants.

— Parking in the garages and lots would be set at $1 an hour within the core, 75 cents an hour outside, to a maximum of $5 a day.

— Discount passes could be sold to merchants, downtown workers and city residents.

— High-tech pay stations with multiple ways of paying for time would be used rather than old-fashioned, quarter-eating meters. The pay stations also would allow motorists to add time from anywhere in downtown rather than having to run back to the spot where they parked their car.

— Enforcement should be as friendly as possible; for example, in some cities, enforcement officers are authorized to pop a quarter in the meter and buy an extra 15 minutes or so rather than automatically ticketing the car.

— The city should place responsibility for all parking related matters under one agency, say the Downtown Development Authority, rather than the system now used where they’re spread over multiple departments.