LANCASTER, Pa. — People parking in downtown Lancaster may soon need to feed more quarters into the meter or pay more on their mobile parking apps. The Lancaster Parking Authority (LPA) is proposing to raise parking rates, for the first time in 11 years, from $1.50 an hour to $2.50 an hour.
The rate hike is intended to free up more parking spots for people visiting local businesses, according to LPA Executive Director Larry Cohen.
“During core business time downtown, it’s typical that there are not really many spaces downtown,” Cohen said. “Vehicles are circling the block, creating 5 – 20% additional traffic volume, impacting the carbon footprint.”
The proposed raise would only affect the Central Business District, where congestion is the heaviest.
A higher street parking rate would theoretically encourage more drivers to use the city’s public parking garages, which cost $2 an hour for the first two hours, then $1 each additional hour for a maximum of $15 per day.
Community nonprofit Lancaster City Alliance supports the measure as a way to more easily access local businesses.
“Getting people to park in a garage, I think, works better for our city than on street parking," said Anne Williams, Lancaster City Alliance’s director of communications. "It’s an overwhelmingly good thing for our community.”
Not all local businesses are on board, though; some said higher parking rates would deter clients.
“We’re very disappointed, simply because we think it’s going to be quite an inconvenience to our elderly patients, who are going to have a difficult time walking a block from the parking garage,” said Doreen Jemison, a massage therapist at Jemison Family Chiropractic on N. Prince St.
The increase would generate an additional $600,000 a year, which would go back into public improvements like electric car charging stations.
The measure will be discussed at the Lancaster City Council Committee meeting on Feb. 7, then likely voted on at the Feb. 22 City Council meeting.