After months of drafting and discussion, the Saratoga Springs City Council has approved plans to implement paid parking.
Democratic Commissioner of Public Works Jason Golub’s paid parking plan passed unanimously Tuesday.
Pay stations and license plate readers will be in effect at city-owned parking garages between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Residents of Saratoga Springs and employees of downtown businesses will be able to obtain free parking passes, everyone else will be charged $2 per hour. Street parking will remain free.
Speaking during a public hearing before the city council meeting, Golub emphasized that the plan is flexible.
“And then at the end of the summer we will look at this and say, ‘does this make sense? Did it work? Did it not work? Did it impact our community in a negative way? Is there something we need to do to make it better? Do we not need to do this at all?’ This will not be a static, 'we're doing it and we’re just going to blindly go ahead forever and ever.’ This is also something we don’t plan on expanding to a year-round program, I know some people are concerned about that,” said Golub.
According to the DPW, the program would bring the city an estimated $1.6 million in revenue during its first year, with more than $250,000 to be re-invested into the city.
Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll, a Democrat, said the program would provide increased safety in city lots.
“If we have an attendant there, it will deter potential bad actors from committing criminal activity or ordinance violations,” said Coll.
Caty Hogan works at the Broadway toy store G. Willikers. She was one of the city residents who asked the council to take more time before voting on the plan.
“I think that it’s not a solution. And at the end of the day, I don’t believe people want to pay to park. And I don’t believe that—and I’m not talking about tourism and the tourists that come here,” said Hogan. “I’m talking about the residents who live in Ballston Spa and Wilton and people who go to Saratoga school districts, and maybe not pay city tax but they live just outside city limits and they call Saratoga their city. They keep our economy going 12 months of the year.”
The DPW plans to extend free and discounted parking rates to residents of the Saratoga Springs City School District in coming years.
Former Saratoga County Public Defender Oscar Schreiber says Saratoga Springs needs to catch up to the times.
“Every city is doing it. I think if it’s only the parking garages, it’s a great idea. I know I’m not going to get the applause. If the money’s got to come from somewhere, other bigger cities are doing it, people have to understand; this is not little-upstate Saratoga Springs anymore,” said Schreiber.
Nearby cities like Albany, Troy, and Schenectady all have paid parking.
After the public hearing, Saratoga Outdoors owner John Nemjo said his business has collected more than 600 signatures from residents and employers opposed to paid parking. He said there are other ways to generate new revenue, and is concerned that the $1.6 million figure generated by the DPW doesn’t account for lost business.
“So, they’ve adjusted this over and over and over again. And I was a scientist, and the way you know you do good science is when you complete a project and you have more questions when you’re done than you started. There’s still so many questions about what this plan is going to do both positive and negative. It’s not time to vote right now, there’s ways of looking at other solutions and streamlining government is one of those,” said Nemjo.
After the meeting, Golub said the next step is implementing the program, adding that his department will continue listening to constituents’ concerns.
“Every element isn’t going to please everyone every time, that’s not realistic. But we tried to balance the needs of generating new revenue with protecting our residents, protecting our downtown businesses and also, from the city’s perspective, meeting some of our long-term goals we have and resolving some of the problems we’re trying to grapple with,” said Golub.
Golub has said he’d like to see the revenue go toward the city’s growing homelessness issue; many of the downtown parking lots had become de facto shelters for the city’s unhoused.
Golub is unsure whether meters will be in place by the time the Belmont Stakes comes to Saratoga Race Course June 8th.
