Enforcement of new downtown Gainesville parking fees begins Monday

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Enforcement of new downtown Gainesville parking fees begins Monday

Following an “educational grace *******,” the city of Gainesville on Monday will begin enforcing its new downtown parking rates with hopes of increasing turnover of in-demand spaces.

It will be the second time since early 2022 that the city has tried a paid parking model downtown, with the first ending after just three weeks following public outcry from residents and business owners.

Multiple owners in recent years have told The Sun how that first attempt at paid parking impacted their businesses, including Andrew Schaer, owner of Hear Again Records, who said earlier this year that during the

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in 2022 his revenue dropped “50% throughout that entire three-week *******…”

Another business owner said that during the trial run the the streets felt “empty.”

It’s the opposite of what commissioners were trying to accomplish back then and with this latest attempt at paid downtown parking — making downtown more inviting for those who want to eat and shop.

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Southeast First Street

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The most expensive spaces — 50 cents per hour with a two-hour time limit — are in the core of downtown north of Southeast Second Place between Southwest Second Avenue and Southwest Third Street. This includes the area around Holy Trinity Episcopal ******* along North Main Street and Northeast First Street.

The spaces located directly east of the Alachua County Administration Building on Southeast First Street next to Bo Diddley Plaza will offer free 30-minute parking before 5 p.m. to assist those who are accessing government services. After 5 p.m. those spaces are 50 cents per hour.

Outside the downtown core, parking rates are 25 cents per hour with no time limit, and spots north of Northeast Second Avenue are mostly free.

Parking restrictions in downtown previously enforced weekdays between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., will now be enforced weekdays between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

Those driving downtown are encouraged to download and use the Passport Parking app, available on both iOS and Android devices, to pay for parking. There also are five new solar-powered pay stations that accept both coins and credit cards installed around the downtown core, as well as a pay station in the SW Parking Garage at 105 SW Third St. Payment also can be made by calling 352-290-3700.

Parking on weekends and city-observed holidays ******** free, except in the SW Parking Garage, which is 50 cents per hour with no time limit.

Garage permits are available at monthly ($40) or quarterly ($100) rates, and employees of businesses downtown are eligible for a discounted monthly permit at $20 per month.

The parking changes are estimated to provide the city an additional $280,000 in revenue.

The changes, which were implemented Aug. 1, have so far generated about $98,000 as of Sept. 10, the majority of which has come from the garage parking permits, according to information the city provided to The Sun. Hourly transactions through the Passport app in lots, streets and the garage account for just over $26,000, of which Passport has collected about $2,600 in fees. Revenue from the garage permits was listed at $70,000.

These garage permits, however, also appear to be giving downtown business owners and others who frequent the area problems.

Several residents in an email chain that includes City Commissioner Ed Book and more than a dozen local business owners, available on the city of Gainesville’s website, about downtown parking say the city is overselling the garage permits, leaving limited parking for employees and patrons.

Chipper Flaniken, lead pastor at City ******* of Gainesville, 9 SW First St., wrote in a Sept. 4 email that by mid-morning the day before, the long-term parking in the garage was completely full. He said he’s been communicating with the city about the issue for the past one to two years.

“The core issue is that the city has been overselling their monthly permits to non-employees …” he wrote.

Schaer, the record store owner, responded less than an hour later, claiming students are buying up the the garage permits in order to avoid higher rates at their apartment complexes.

“The result is a garage filled with cars that don’t frequently move. …” he wrote.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun:

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