Credit: Tom Sofield/NewtownPANow.com
You may soon have to pay to park in Newtown Borough.
The Borough Council last week discussed a plan to purchase electronic parking kiosks that would be placed at the Municipal Parking Lot that serves the business district.
The Council has scheduled a special meeting on adding paid parking for October 17 at 5:30 p.m. at the Chancellor Center at 30 North Chancellor Street in Newtown.
Council President Bob Walker said the kiosks the borough are considering buying would cost just under $45,000, which includes installing poles to project the parking kiosks.
The parking lot between Washington and Centre avenues is currently free and has a three-hour limit. Under the plan being considered by Council, the kiosks would go toward paying for the recent resurfacing of the parking lot and help fund other transportation projects. Eventually, paid parking could be added to State Street.
The parking kiosks would charge $1 per hour Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. They would also allow local merchants to display advertisements and coupons. Several free parking days would also be considered, Walker said.
The parking kiosks will help enforcement officials by giving a display of which spots are paid for and which are not.
Borough officials said they looked at surrounding borough before coming up with the proposed rate.
A man who said he represented the ownership of Isaac Newton’s and its employees spoke up and said paying for parking would likely push employees to parking further away on streets where parking was free. He said employees raised concerns about walking in the dark to their car to avoid having to go out to the parking lot every three hours to refill the parking kiosk.
The restaurant’s representative said an informal poll of customers and business owners said paid parking would hurt business. He worried that customers would instead go to establishments where there is free parking.
If the Council ends up approving the kiosks, they could be installed and in service by January, officials said.
