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Corpus Christi, Texas city leaders are considering adding more parking meters and increasing rates in an effort to generate funds for capital improvements. A city plan would add more parking meters and increase rates by about 25 cents an hour for most meters, with part of the money paying for beautification projects. The city council is expected to vote on the plan later this month. If approved, new rates could be in place by June. Most city meters, in downtown, uptown and Corpus Christi Beach, would increase to 50 cents an hour. The plan includes forming a council-appointed parking committee made up of business owners, residents, special interest groups and city staff. The committee would recommend rate changes and plan how money collected should be spent. City Parking Meter Supervisor Mark Denson, who took over the parking division in September, said he spent months researching the city’s parking meter system and interviewing business owners to understand how Corpus Christi's parking could be more effective. Denson found there is no pattern to current meter rates. They range from 5 cents to 40 cents an hour from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. About half the meters are decades old and unable to be upgraded because the meter parts are no longer manufactured. That leaves the city with outdated rates and less money to run the parking program and maintain the meters, Denson said. The average meter rate is about 16 cents an hour. Each year the city collects about $477,000 from meter payments and tickets. There are 962 meters, most of which cost about 25 cents an hour. The rates are far less than other cities' and the state's $1.25 hourly average. Corpus Christi has several free parking areas in front of downtown businesses, which business owners complain are used for all-day parking. That leads to congestion and forces customers to walk several blocks during peak hours. Under the new plan, parking meters in front of businesses would have more expensive hourly rates to encourage high turnover parking. Parking rates would drop farther away from businesses. Under this proposal, the city would phase in about $300,000 in new meters, including digital, solar-powered credit card machines and parking pay stations. The upgrades would be paid for with collected fees. About 40 percent of collections would be designated for revitalization projects in downtown, uptown and Corpus Christi Beach. Thirty-five percent of the funds would pay for the parking department's operation costs, and the remaining 25 percent would go to the city, which could use the money to repave parking lots or build parking garages. Denson said the city could see small beautification projects by 2013. Those projects would include streetscape improvements, such as new lampposts, benches, trees and planter boxes. Larger beautification projects could redo rundown park space or upgrade streetscapes blocks at a time. |
