Pay-By-Phone Parking Expansion Considered In Old Town

ALEXANDRIA, VA — As visitor numbers start to return in Old Town, conversations have being revived on resident and businesses' parking concerns. City Council is considering an expansion of the residential pay-by-phone parking program, which could allow for higher parking rates on participating streets and expanded eligibility for blocks with pay-by-phone parking.

The pay-by-phone residential parking program is currently approved on 21 blocks east of Washington Street in Old Town. The fee is $1.75 per hour. The pay-by-phone blocks are separate from blocks with meters such as King Street.

In March, City Council discussed potential actions to address parking concerns in Old Town, such as expanding the pay-by-phone parking area, allowing staff to adjust pay-by-phone rates and adjusting parking garage rates. City staff said these solutions could be implemented in the short term, while others like splitting a residential parking permit district into two and resident-only parking restrictions would need more community engagement.

The new proposal being considered by City Council would remove the geographic limit for the Residential Pay by Phone Program eligibility, allowing this program to expand to other areas. The current eligible blocks in the program are east of Washington Street, south of Princess Street and north of Wolfe Street. The participating 21 blocks had to petition with at least 50 percent of properties on the block for pay-by-phone signage.

City Council will also consider changing the city code to allow rates on pay-by-phone blocks to differ from parking meter rates, which could allow for potentially higher rates on residential blocks. Lastly, City Council will consider a resolution allowing the Transportation and Environmental Services director or other designated staff member to set rates for specific parking facilities and pay-by-phone blocks up to $5 per hour.

A memo to City Council notes the change of pricing to the maximum $5 rate wouldn't necessarily happen right away.

"Staff will use data to determine appropriate changes, analyze the effectiveness of these changes, and adjust the rates as needed," the memo reads. "While staff does not intend to shift to the $5 per hour maximum rate immediately, allowing flexibility of prices will enable staff to evaluate the impact of pricing changes to determine the right balance of on- and off-street pricing and quickly make changes as needed."

If approved, the city could look at lowering rates in parking garages to less than the metered rate of $1.75 per hour and reduced weekend and evening rates. The city has four parking garages (Market Square, Courthouse, North Union Street and Thompson’s Alley) and four surface lots (Cameron and St. Asaph Streets, South Henry Street, 900 block of King Street, and the Union Station lot. In all these parking areas provide about 900 spaces. The garage rate is $2.50 per hour, or a maximum $5 on evenings after 5 p.m. and weekends.

The proposed changes were endorsed by the city's Traffic and Parking Board on May 23. However, Old Town Civic Association representatives expressed opposition to removing the pay-by-phone parking boundary, claiming it has not helped preserve residential parking.

City Council will have a public hearing and final consideration Saturday.