Parking in Alexandria is about to get pricier.
The City Council has approved a rate increase for all Alexandria parking meters, upping the hourly charge to $1.75 in all parking zones. The city’s old meter rates varied between $1 and $1.25 per hour.
“We wanted to make things simple and standardized for those drivers parking on our streets,” said Vice Mayor Kerry Donley.
City officials also plan to increase the number of existing parking spaces in Old Town, extend the hours that parking meters are enforced and install meter kiosks that take credit cards.
“We’re going to start with a pilot program on the first two blocks of King Street, and over time we’ll phase out the traditional parking meters and move to all multispace meters,” Donley said.
The 100 and 200 blocks of King Street on the city’s east side are not metered, and Donley said the new parking revenue should cover the cost of the credit-card-capable meters.
Members of the City Council and the Alexandria Department of Transportation met two months ago to discuss the city’s “parking problem,” as well as prospective solutions.
Mayor Bill Euille said at the time that too many people were able to find free parking on Alexandria’s streets, and that metered spaces cost less than parking meters in other Washington-area localities.
“We need to raise the rates so that folks aren’t sitting for hours and hours,” Euille said, emphasizing the need to increase the city’s parking space turnover to improve the flow of customers to local businesses.
The City Council also voted to increase local towing, impound and storage charges. The towing fee will climb from $100 to $125, while impound and daily storage costs each will increase $10.
The city’s budget office estimates the new meter rates will generate roughly $800,000 in additional revenue next year, while the towing-fee increase will haul in about $76,000.
The city will begin charging the new parking meter and towing fees next month, and is considering raising residential permit parking charges.
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