Town Council Discusses How To Enforce Parking Lot Tonight

The new parking lot north of the MARC station is , and tonight the Kensington Town Council will discuss how and whether to charge for its use.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in .

At , the council debated between installing a meter on or selling permits for the 54-space lot.

Council Member John Thompson has suggested leaving the lot unenforced for some time and studying its use before deciding, an idea that some local business owners said would overrun the lot with MARC commuters.

Another option is installing a $7,000 electronic parking meter which would allow payment by cash, credit or mobile phone.

Regardless of what the council decides, Kensington will need to generate about $20,000 per year to cover maintenance of the lot, Council Member Sean McMullen has said.