Parking at a Lexington meter will cost you more, now including weeknights and Saturdays
It’s going to cost more to park come Jan 3.
And Lexington residents will have to pay to park on weeknights and on Saturdays, according to a Friday announcement.
This is the first rate increase since 2019. It’s the first time the parking authority has changed enforcement hours since 2008, when the city turned over all parking to the parking authority.
The Lexington Parking Authority, which oversees metered parking and four public parking garages, announced the new rates on Friday. It will also extend metered parking enforcement times from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Currently metered parking is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and free on weekends.
On average the metered parking increases will be 30 cents. Those parking rates depend on how long someone parks and in what part of the city.
A sample of the metered rate increases:
- Areas that are currently $0.50 per hour will now be $0.75 per hour
- Areas that are currently $1 per hour will now be $1.50 per hour
- Areas that are currently $1.50 per hour will now be $2 per hour
The rate adjustment was due in part to a 6 percent sales tax added to all parking starting Jan. 1. The new sales tax affects all parking authorities across Kentucky. Louisville’s parking authority announced a similar parking rate increase earlier this month.
Lexpark’s revenues also plummeted in 2020, 2021 and the first part of 2022 during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Many office workers started working from home. That also meant viewer visitors to downtown businesses, said Gary Means, the executive director of Lexpark.
“The pandemic hit us hard with $3.2 million in losses,” Means said.
In addition, a few years ago the city gave multiple streets to the University of Kentucky in a swap for land for a new industrial park. Lexpark lost more than $300,000 a year because it no longer gets revenue from those meters, Means said.
Meanwhile, the cost to maintain Lexpark garages, including the Helix garage on Main Street, the Victorian Square garage on Short Street, the courthouse garages and the transit center garages, continue to eat into Lexpark’s revenues.
It has spent more than $11 million to date fixing and updating those garages, mainly for safety reasons. Those garages need an additional $2.5 million in work in coming years, Means said.
“Everyone’s expenses have gone up. So has ours,” Means said. “We have to pay people a lot more to keep them. Everything that we order or purchase has also gone up.”
Downtown parking in the early evenings has surpassed pre-pandemic levels. However, revenues generated from daytime parking continues to lag as not all office workers have returned, he said.
Revenue from daytime parking is about 20 percent less than what it was in 2019.
Means said he knows that many restaurants and shops downtown will not be happy with the changes, particularly paid parking on Saturdays.
Most cities of similar size to Lexington have charged for parking on Saturdays for years, he said.
“A survey of 30 cities of varying sizes nationwide showed only one city that does not enforce meters on Saturday,” according to a written release from the parking authority.
Even with the increases in rates, Lexington parking rates will still be lower than most cities of similar size, Means said.
The highest meter rates in the Lexington area will now be $2 an hour which puts Lexington at the same maximum rate as the University of Kentucky, Charleston, SC, Madison, Wis., and Portland, Maine.
Maximum rates in Louisville are $2.25 an hour. Cincinnati’s maximum rate is $2.50 an hour.
Restaurant, bar owners react
Carlo Vaccarezza, who owns Frank & Dino’s on Short Street called the change “a disgrace” but said it won’t be a huge hit to his restaurant because he offers valet parking. Still, “one way or the other this will impact us and the other restaurants in downtown. Instead of embracing the people who come to downtown Lexington, we’re chasing them away.”
Kevin Heathcoat, one of the owners of Bourbon n’ Toulouse, which has locations on Euclid Avenue and South Broadway, and the Chevy Chase Inn, said parking is already difficult in Chevy Chase.
“It’s 3:20 p.m. on a Friday and there is only one open parking space on this block,” Heathcoat said. Heathcoat said he choose the Chevy Chase neighborhood because it and other areas like Jefferson Street and National Avenue are unique and make Lexington interesting.
The timing couldn’t be worse, Heathcoat said.
COVID closed a lot of independent restaurants and businesses. The industry is still trying to get back on its feet.
“It’s nice for Lexpark to announce this today with no warning,” Heathcoat said.
Debbie Long, of Dudley’s on Short, echoed Heathcoat’s comments. Dudley’s is located on Short Street in the heart of downtown Lexington.
Parking is a perennial problem downtown, she said. Dudley’s offers valet parking to help ease customer’s concerns about finding parking downtown. Increasing enforcement on weekend nights and Saturdays is going to deter people from frequenting downtown businesses, she said.
“They should not be making it more difficult for people to park,” Long said. “If we make it more expensive, people won’t come.”
Rising rates don’t mean less business, parking officials say
Means said with paid parking in the evenings, it will likely create more turnover so more people can find places to park. Many people come downtown, find a metered space, and don’t leave.
Moreover, for those working at downtown restaurants and bars, the parking authority has a special “hospitality” rate at its garages for those people who park after 3 p.m. It’s $20 a month, he said.
Lexpark has had to raise rates twice over the past decade. Those rate increases have not translated into loss of business. In fact, downtown Lexington has become more vibrant over the past decade, he said.
Lexpark estimates the 6 percent sales tax will generate more than $225,000 to $250,000 in revenue to state coffers.
“I wish I could say it was going to infrastructure or road paving but it will likely go to the state general fund,” he said.
The parking authority is separate from the city. It does not receive taxpayer money.
This story was originally published December 16, 2022 at 2:50 PM.
