LexPark boosts parking time, changes Saturday price. Public still upset over cost increase
After listening to public comment for nearly an hour Thursday after enacting price increases for downtown parking, the Lexington Parking Authority Board made two changes to its parking policy at a special called meeting in downtown Lexington Thursday morning.
Just last week LexPark announced new rates and enforcement times for downtown parking that will go into effect on Jan. 3. Patrons who want to park at a meter downtown currently have to pay between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on weekdays. Parking is free after 5 p.m. and on weekends. But the new policy will lead to parking meter enforcement from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Parking rates will also increase, going as high as $2 an hour. This is the first rate increase since 2019.
It’s also the first time the parking authority has changed enforcement hours since 2008, when the city turned over all parking to the parking authority.
At Thursday’s meeting, the board passed two motions to address citizens’ complaints with the new policies. The first approved motion was expanding the amount of time a vehicle can park at a meter.
The previous limit was two hours, but the board voted to expand that limit to four hours anytime after 5 p.m. on weekdays and all day on Saturdays.
The other approved motion reduced costs for higher-priced areas on Saturdays. Areas that were previously going to seen an increase to $1.50 or $2 an hour will now only cost $1 an hour on Saturdays.
Areas where it costs less than $1 per hour to park will remain unchanged.
The in-person crowd of approximately a dozen people weren’t satisfied with the changes, saying it didn’t address the concerns they mentioned during the public comment portion of the meeting. Several others attended the meeting virtually.
‘I’ve had no say in it.’
Prior to the motions being passed, the board heard public comment from around 20 people who spoke in-person and virtually.
The main issue brought to the board was the two-hour parking limit at meters. Sarah Brown, owner of Lussi Brown Coffee Bar, said the limit puts people’s safety at risk since they have to go refresh their meter or move their car at night.
“You are literally putting them in harm’s way. You are going to get us killed and you are going to destroy our businesses,” Brown said.
Brown also brought up an issue with the increased rates, saying she expects less people to visit her coffee shop now.
“That is physically taking money out of my pocket and putting it into your own, and I’ve had no say in it,” Brown said.
Trish Tungate, the owner of downtown restaurant Minglewood, said if people work a 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. shift downtown four days a week, they’ll pay approximately $240 a month, $2,880 a year in parking fees.
“We already have a worker shortage, to ask people to come out and pay three and-a-half months worth of rent to work downtown is a little excessive,” Tungate said. “I wouldn’t want to do it personally if I was working on tips.”
Kevin Heathcoat, owner of Bourbon n’ Toulouse, expressed his disagreement with the addition of parking rates on Saturdays and argued that it should at least be consistent for the entire weekend.
“On Sundays, we’re not paying meters, so we’re going to punish the sinners on Saturday but the saints are going to go to church and not have to pay,” Heathcoat said. “I would question why we’re not even considering Sunday if you’re going to do Saturday.”
Vice mayor: Hold off on implementing price hikes
Incoming Vice Mayor Dan Wu also spoke during the meeting. He didn’t criticize the parking policy but asked the board to hold off on implementing the changes until they can come in front of the council when the council returns in January and give a presentation.
“My biggest concern with this whole change-up and issue is that I don’t think that there’s been enough input either publicly or from city government for this change, especially as big of a change as it is,” Wu said.
“I think the rate changes are significant and I think the hour changes – the enforcement hours are going up over 50% from 45 hours a week to 72 and I think that’s very significant and I think that does require more input.”
James Frazier, the Board of Commissioners chairman of LexPark, said later in the meeting he would be happy to go before council if requested.
Herald-Leader reporter Beth Musgrave contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 22, 2022 at 1:39 PM.
