The crowd at Monday’s meeting.
Credit: Ingrid Sofield/NewtownPANow.com
Newtown Borough Council President Bob Walker made clear that the proposal to install paid parking kiosks in the free Municipal Parking Lot was done to help fund infrastructure projects for the future and not to fill a budget gap.
The statement came during a packed meeting to discuss the paid parking proposal Monday evening at the Chancellor Center.
Walker and other council members heard the public’s opinion on the proposal to add three self-service paid parking kiosks to the Municipal Parking Lot that serves the business district. A decision on purchasing the parking kiosks for a cumulative price not to exceed $45,000 could happen at next month’s Council voting meeting. If the council goes forward with the kiosks, they would be installed in the new year.
The council president told the crowd at the beginning of the meeting that the first months of the paid parking profits would help pay back the cost of repaving the parking lot between Washington and Centre avenues earlier this year. The money moving forward would be used to fund road maintenance and repairs throughout the borough.
Currently, the borough has identified $528,700 in transportation infrastructure improvements needed over the next few years and only gets about $155,000 in funds between state fuel taxes and a borough street improvement tax, according to Walker.
The new resource from paid parking could help Newtown pay for road projects and ease the burden on taxpayers, Walker said.
Chris Gusty, vice president of the Council, said adding parking meters would not be a windfall for the borough.
The meeting also gave residents a chance to look at the parking kiosk that the borough is considering buying. It is made by Parkeon US and is solar powered.
At last week’s Council meeting, Walker said parking kiosks would charge $1 per hour Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m. Several free parking days would also be considered.
The parking kiosks being eyed for purchase would help enforcement officials by giving a display of which spots are paid for and which are not.
Issac Newton’s employee Andrew Neville, who also spoke out against the kiosks last week, chided Council for their lack of effort to inform the community about the proposal. Within a few days, he said, over 1,500 signatures against paid parking in the borough had been collected.
One of the meters the borough is considering purchasing.
Credit: Ingrid Sofield/NewtownPANow.com
“It will not only drive away business, but it will also drive away employees and customers of businesses,” Neville said of adding paid parking.
Neville’s statements were met with applause by the crowd.
Newtown Borough resident and realtor Joe McKernan chided the council for adding numbers to the spots in Municipal Parking Lot without previously announcing their plans for paid parking. He also said the borough parking proposal is “attacking” people who chose to do business in Newtown instead of other places.
Bill Newell, owner of the Newtown Hardware House and a borough resident, said paid parking would be a “major disadvantage” for merchants who compete with nearby stores in shopping centers that don’t charge for parking.
A concern about parking on side streets where parking will remain free was raised by Newtown Borough resident Beth Goodman. She told the Council parking is already tight in town and would likely become even worse if paid parking is implemented.
Lifelong Newtown Borough resident Victoria Swartz, who said she was impartial on the issue, raised the point that towns like New Hope who have paid parking seem to not have any problems with drawing visitors.
A representative of the company that distributes the parking kiosks the Council is considering purchasing listed some towns, including New Hope, where its systems are used with success. He talked of various kiosk coupon and advertising options local businesses could utilize.
Towards the end of the meeting, a man from out of the borough spoke up to give a different perspective. He said charging for parking will not stop the majority of people from coming to town for the unique stores located in Newtown Borough.
“That machine for $1 is not going to stop me,” he said.
The man said no matter if there is paid parking or not, the borough will have to find a way to pay for the parking lot and other road projects.
Council members said they felt the meeting was constructive.
