As Saratoga Springs’ horse racing meet begins, the city’s paid parking program is about halfway through its first full summer.
This year, visitors to the Spa City have had to pay $2 an hour to park in city owned lots. Residents can apply for a free permit.
In its second year, this is the first summer where the program has been up and running since its scheduled start on Memorial Day.
Dan Schwartz was in town for the July 4th festival at Saratoga Race Course from Long Island.
“I’m just parking here to run into a market. I think Sundays should be free, as they are where I live and in most places around where I live. It’s ridiculous to be honest with you. I mean, they’ve always needed more parking in Saratoga, I’ve been coming here since 1990 and they’ve always needed more parking,” said Schwartz. “I think everything should be free on Sundays, it’s God’s day of rest, right?”
According to Public Works Commissioner Chuck Marshall, the parking program brought in nearly $6,000 on July 4th alone. That’s compared to about $4,000 last Independence Day.
The Republican, who won January’s special election, ran on a platform opposing the program.
He’s since said he doesn’t have the power to unilaterally nix paid parking and tells WAMC he’s already thinking of adjustments for future seasons.
“Yeah, I still don’t think it’s going to hit the targeted revenue, which was $465,000, that’s what’s in the budget. But one of the things I would like to explore with the remainder of the council is there a mechanism where we can give some free days back to the business community. So, those large race days where people don’t normally go downtown and they go right to the track, can we incentivize people to go be downtown and enjoy not just the track but enjoy the downtown so our retailers who are affected by this get a benefit out o the program,” said Marshall.
According to Marshall, paid parking generated nearly $103,000 through June.
Last year, after a delayed start and initial installation costs, the program brought in $244,000. The program began more than a month late last year.
Marshall also made adjustments this season.
“But one of the changes we’ve made is we gave the opportunity for people in the school district to buy seasonal permits. Those permits were $100 where they would’ve been about $130 if they bought them monthly. Last year, about 1,200 people were denied permits,” said Marshall.
Street parking remains free.
While some business owners oppose the program, Doreen Kamen is just surprised it took this long for a city like Saratoga Springs to adopt paid parking. She owns the knitting and craft shop Common Thread on Broadway.
“I go visit my son in Massachusetts. We go to Natick, there’s nothing in Natick. There’s a bagel shop there and a library. It’s paid parking, it’s expensive, all right? There’s nothing there. In Providence, Rhode Island there’s nobody on the streets, nothing going on – paid parking. Lake George – paid parking all year round,” said Kamen.
August Rosa owns a popular watering hole in town. He sees the glass as half full.
“Any time parking is an issue, it means the place is busy. That’s always my take on parking. I know this probably isn’t even a usable sound bite because no one’s going to say that,” said Rosa.
Paid parking in Saratoga Springs runs through Labor Day.
