City May Consider Charging for Shopper Parking Again

Parking Services Manager Rita McNany presented a proposal late Wednesday night to bring back paid Shopper Parking in the city.

The purpose of reinstituing the fees is to force downtown employees out of the free lost, which McNany says they do, hopping from lot to lot all day long.

McNany said there are a myriad of reasons to bring back shopper lot fees including that it encourages consistent turnover of spaces and helps retail sales, it increases parking capacity for peak-time visitors from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., reduces traffic and congestion, and it will provide a better gauge of how much additional parking is really needed downtown.

McNany also said that shoppers pay to park in other towns already so it will not discourage them from coming to Summit.

The proposed fees would keep 30 minutes free and then increase gradually to $1 at 90 minutes, $5 at 4 hours 30 minutes and up to $14 for more than 7 hours 30 minutes. Fees would be effective from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday - Saturday.

"The idea is not to generate revenue," said Councilman Frank Macioce. "The goal here is to provide parking, not revenues."

McNany proposed using a gated system to collect fees. The technology would cost no more than $1 million and would require no daily enforcement by the Parking Enforcement Office.

However, Mayor Jordan Glatt said that this is a big issue and it should be thought about more.

Councilman Michael Vernotico agreed saying the city was trying to do "too much too fast."

"I think this would be a lot more palatable if we earmarked that money (some of the revenues) for promoting the downtown."

Chairman of Summit Downtown, Inc. Tony Melchionna, also the owner of Salon 44 on Maple Street, said that he is in favor of paid shopper parking.

"I don't see a problem with shoppers having to pay, too," he said. "Most towns are doing this and i think we should, too."