At last Tuesday’s meeting, the Council voted to suspend parking enforcement at the downtown parking garage after 5:00 pm from August 11th to August 17th.
At the May 23, 2013 meeting of the Downtown College Park Management Authority (“DCPMA”), the group’s officers voted to request that the City expand its free summer parking program to coincide with College Park’s Restaurant Week from August 11th to August 17th.
Currently, the City offers free parking in the Downtown garage on Saturdays from May 25th to August 17th, while Sundays are always free. DCPMA’s request would allow visitors to park for free in the Downtown garage after 5:00 pm during the days of Restaurant Week that are not already free.
The purpose of this request is to encourage participation in this inaugural event. In response to various community surveys and discussions with restaurant owners, City staff chose to organize a city-wide restaurant week during a traditionally slow period for local businesses.
City staff has reached out to 21 locally-owned restaurants and received confirmation from 16 that they will participate, of which 7 are located within the DCPMA boundary. In order to estimate the potential loss of parking revenue due to this request, Parking Enforcement provided an analysis of payments received after 5:00 pm from Monday, June 24, to Friday, June 28, in the Downtown garage.
For that period, parking payments totaled $1,965.75, or $393.15 per night.