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Boone Town Council, Stakeholders Hold Special Meeting Tonight Regarding Metered Parking in Downtown

A gentleman feeds a meter that was part of a trial installation of 20 meters along a block of King Street in front of Capone's Pizza. Photo by Ken Ketchie
A man feeds a meter that was part of a trial installation of 20 meters along a block of King Street in front of Capone’s Pizza. Photo by Ken Ketchie

By Jesse Wood

July 9, 2013. Joined by other stakeholders, the Boone Town Council holds a special meeting tonight to discuss and possibly vote on the implementation of parking meters throughout downtown Boone.

Town staff and representatives of the Downtown Boone Development Association and McLaurin Parking, which manages parking for the town, are expected to attend.

Recently, the Boone Town Council directed the Public Works Department to install meters on the block of King Street in front of Capone’s Pizza. This effort was billed as a test run.

Town Manager Greg Young said tonight’s meeting will include discussions of “how fast we” implement metered parking throughout downtown with the ideal date being by Sept. 1.

Parking-related Revenues Budgeted for FY 2013-14

  • Parking violation penalties – $80,000
  • Library Lot parking – $6,000
  • Tracy Circle parking – $5,000
  • Jones House parking – $5,000
  • City Hall parking – $50,500
  • Queen Street parking – $40,000
  • Parking meters – $219,600
    • Total: $406,100

Estimated Parking-related Revenues for FY 2012-13

  • Parking violation penalties – $155,124
  • Library Lot parking – $6,080
  • Tracy Circle parking – $4,782
  • Jones House parking – $4,570
  • City Hall parking – $52,095
  • Queen Street parking – $37,673
  • Parking meters – $53,128
    • Total: $313,452

The vast differences in figures from last year and the current year for parking violation penalties and parking meters is correlated, Young said, adding that the Boone Town Council budgeted for significantly less revenues from parking violations, forecasting that the installation of more meters throughout downtown would curb the number of citations handed out.

Young said that the town has budgeted $151,000 towards McLaurin Parking to manage parking services in downtown Boone and additional $15,000 for services rendered during ASU football game days. Those figures, Young said, represent about a 2.5 percent increase in expenses over last year and that reflects a CPI increase.

According to data provided council members during budget talks, downtown Boone has 580 total parking spaces available:

  • One-hour spaces: 194
  • 30-minute spaces: 9
  • Handicap spaces: 11
  • Pay meters: 104 (3 hours for $1.50, doesn’t include “trial” meters on King Steet)
  • King Street pay lot: 34, 1 handicap
  • Permit parking: 203
    1. Queen Street lot spaces: 140 
    2. Library lot spaces: 30 
    3. Jones House lot spaces: 36 

As for the trial run in front of Capone’s Pizza, the town used 20 unused meters that cost $400 per meter and the meters start at 50 cents per hour with a maximum run time of three hours, according to Public Works Director Blake Brown, whose department installed the meters. Meters also exist on Queen Street.

Young said some budgeted figures might change tonight depending on how the discussions evolve.