The city of Albuquerque is betting that its new Downtown parking meters along Central Avenue will help retailers by curbing all-day parking by business employees and freeing up more parking for shoppers.
But business owners disagree over whether the new policy is a boon or a further deterrent to shop in an already struggling economic area.
The one-hour free parking between First and Seventh streets, which had long been considered a draw for Downtown businesses, is now history. That's because the city says it received too many complaints from shoppers about parking spaces being taken by Downtown workers, who would park all day or move their vehicle from space to space to avoid getting ticketed. The new meters were instituted by the city to address this problem.
In fact, during a news conference the city held on July 10 to announce its new kiosk-style parking meters, a Tucanos Brazilian Grill employee was observed removing a written warning notice from what appeared to be her own vehicle and placing it on another car. For the first two weeks, the city is handing out warnings, instead of tickets, so drivers can get used to the new parking meters.
The kiosks are solar-powered, automated machines that resemble ATMS and dispense computerized tickets that drivers must display on their dashboards while parked.
Rather than have a kiosk at every parking spot, only two are required on each city block and they all charge the same amount -- one dollar per hour -- as the old meters. The biggest difference: The new kiosks take credit and debit cards, as well as paper money.
They are more expensive than the older meters, costing the city $10,700 per kiosk compared to $500 each for the old meters. But since it formerly took about 10 meters to do the work of one kiosk, the price works out to about $21,400 to meter a block using two kiosks, as opposed to about $10,000 per block using traditional meters. The city has purchased 14 kiosks, at a cost of $149,800, to install Downtown and plans to later order more for other parts of the city, such as Nob Hill.
The new kiosks might pay for themselves, eventually. Chavez says cities such as Chicago and Seattle have successfully instituted the meters and have seen revenue jump considerably.
He says those cities have seen a 20 to 50 percent increase in parking revenues each year from the meters, in part because of increased parking violations during the first year, but also because of more meter revenues.
Albuquerque currently collects about $33,000 each year in parking fees and fines along Central Avenue Downtown. Chavez says the kiosks should increase the city's parking revenues, in part, because drivers can't piggyback off another driver's unused meter minutes.
"They drive away with their minutes," Chavez says.
Some businesses aren't sold on the new parking scenario. Roy Sumner Johnson, co-owner of Sumner & Dene, an art gallery that relocated from San Diego to downtown Albuquerque in January, says the new meters will discourage economic growth. He says parking meters were taken out of that area in the 1970s to encourage shoppers to Downtown. But, he says the area, although in better shape than it was in the 70s, is still struggling.
Johnson says two restaurants on his Downtown block closed down within the past two years and occupancy is only about 50 percent.
But, not everyone is of the same disposition. Nick Manole, owner of Nick's Crossroads Cafe, says the new parking kiosks are a breath of fresh air. He explains that many patrons will not frequent his restaurant because of the lack of parking during rush hour periods, such as during the lunch hour. He says parking enforcement will ensure traffic flows in and out of the Downtown area and more revenue for local businesses.
It may be a while before we know who is correct. Chavez says the problem with any new system is there's no way to prove it will have the intended effect until it's in place.