Major parking cost increase could impact downtown Durham businesses
The cost to park in Durham could go up as much as 80% this summer. Some downtown business owners fear it's yet another financial hit -- that will negatively affect their customers and employees.
Posted — UpdatedMany of the businesses are already struggling to find employees. Many owners fear it'll be even harder to maintain employees if paychecks are going to the parking meter.
Downtown Durham is currently surging in popularity. However, if parking costs more, some downtown patrons say people will stop coming downtown – especially people on limited budgets.
City staff wants to raise parking rates:
- Parking decks: Could see an 80% increase, from $1.25 an hour to $2.25 an hour.
- On-street meters: Could see a 67% increase, from $1.50 an hour to $2.50 an hour.
By comparison, parking costs in downtown Raleigh are around $1.50 per hour, which is the same as Durham's current rate before the possible increase.
Downtown restaurant owner Seth Gross shared his concerns at Thursday's City Council work session.
"Can you imagine if you came into our restaurant and a burger was $10 on Monday and then you came back the next day and it was $16.70?" he said. "I think you’d be outraged at the increase."
"We just can't afford to spend 10% of our paycheck on parking," argued Emma Robinson, front desk manager at Rock, Paper, Scissors Salon.
She says with that kind of an increase - she might have to find a new job.
"A lot of us will start to have looking for other jobs in areas we can afford to park in, to work in," she said.
In 2020, City Council voted to increase parking rates by 25 cents – yet that was never implemented, due to COVID delays.
Now, city staff is proposing an additional 75 cent hike, bringing the total increase to one dollar per hour.
Transportation Director Sean Egan told council the city is working to reduce the cost for some of downtown's low-wage employees.
"We’re still finalizing the design of the subsidy, but our plan is to effectively offer a half-price discount to qualifying individuals who have incomes up to 200% of the federal poverty level," he said.
The city says money made from parking is to offset improvements to the parking system.
Some downtown patrons are understanding of that, knowing the money goes to the city's ability to provide more services.
Council will vote on this increase at its next meeting. If they vote yes, this will all take effect July 1.
Related Topics
• Credits
Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
