Alexandria officials have been struggling to decide whether or not to implement an “All May Park, All Must Pay” policy, which would force drivers displaying handicapped permits and plates to pay meter rates like all other drivers. The city’s best example to study is Arlington County, but only by default — Arlington is the only jurisdiction in Virginia that makes drivers pay to park in handicapped spaces.
Cities and counties have had the option to require that handicapped drivers pay for parking since 1997, when the Virginia code was amended to allow localities to make their own rules and harsher penalties were instituted for people abusing handicapped parking spaces. But only Arlington has used the option to make everyone pay to park the same rate in metered spaces.
“When I first brought it up, there was this look of horror on the face of the County Board members,” said Arlington Treasurer Frank O’Leary, who advocated the legislative movement to Virginia lawmakers back in 1997. By the time he was done making his case, O’Leary said, making everyone pay to park seemed the logical thing to do.
“The question is, why should anyone be entitled to free parking?” said O’Leary. “If you think about it, if you own a car and drive it, you must pay certain expenses.”
The question isn’t so simple, says Doris Ray, a co-founder of the ENDependence Center of Northern Virginia. Before Arlington implemented its policy, it had to create alternative payment methods in line with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which spelled out how easy it must be for a person with a disability to access commonly used devices.
To help meet the act’s standards and alleviate the transition from free to paid parking, the county distributed electronic payment devices to disabled people free of charge. The devices helped disabled drivers bypass the sometimes difficult process of paying at a meter.
Alexandria has developed several of its own payment alternatives, such as cell phone payments or easily accessible mulitspace meters, with the help of some feedback from a parking study group that includes a representative from Alexandria’s Commission on Persons with Disabilities.
However, the commission opposes the current plan to charge handicapped drivers and was granted time by the Alexandria City Council to conduct its own study of the city’s metered parking spaces. Yet, even if a compromise is reached, it likely won’t please everyone in the disabled community, said Ray.
The commission is still investigating the issue, said commission Chairman Chuck Benagh, and developing options to present the council, including enhanced penalties for drivers who abuse the use of handicapped spaces.
