Columbia considers more than doubling parking rates, nearly tripling fines

The cost to park on some Columbia streets may be going up more than 150%, while the fine for not paying to park may increase even more.

Columbia City Council is considering sharp increases in parking rates, permits and fines, some all of which haven’t been increased in 18 years.

A consultant recommended the hourly rate for on-street parking increase from $0.75 to $2 and citations for expired meters increase from $7 to $20, with an additional $25 added on top for late fees. These recommendations from WGI of Charlotte were primarily made for downtown, the Vista, Five Points, around USC and for the developing Bull Street property.

Columbia City Council considered the recommendations Tuesday afternoon.

City Manager Teresa Wilson said rates were studied in an effort to ensure the city’s parking garages “are the very best they can be and the entire experience with parking services be the best it can be.”

The city issues an average of 8,700 citations per month, according to Elle Matney, director of parking services.

Another recommendation was to extend the hours of enforcement for paid parking.

For example, in the Vista, paid parking is enforced from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The recommendation is to extend those hours from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The council members were also advised to increase the price of different permits, including residential permits for owners and tenants, loading zone permits and bagged metered permits.

For example, a residential parking permit for a tenant is $10 per every six months currently, and the city was recommended to increase it to $90 per every six months.

It was also recommended that the first hour parking be free in garages to encourage more folks to utilize those garages.

The last time a parking rate study was conducted was in 2015, and the city did not implement the recommendations offered from the study.

The city operates and maintains 11 parking decks, 14 lots, more than 3,600 on-street metered spots and more than 1,400 on-street pay-by-app spaces.

“You have assessed a value for that on-street space and unfortunately that value has not kept up with consumer price index increases,” said Benjamin Sans, the consultant from WGI.

The last time parking rates were adjusted was in 2006.

City Council will now discuss and revise any parts of the parking study as they see fit, according to Justin Stephens, city spokesperson.

“When they have finished their revisions, they’ll bring the recommendations to City Council for public discussion and vote,” Stephens said. Dates for that have not been set.

The council was also presented with the idea of removing the meters on Main Street and replacing them with pay stations, a $223,000 to $285,000 project.

“That’s a part of what we’re trying to get rid of, all the meters and all the signage. Because, quite frankly, it’s ugly,” Mayor Daniel Rickenmann said.