AMHERST — Parking spaces closest to retail shops and restaurants will have higher prices and a more limited duration under a plan approved by the Select Board Monday.
The board voted unanimously to support the Downtown Parking Working Group’s recommendations that will create three distinct parking zones within downtown Amherst and increase the cost of parking from 50 cents an hour to $1 an hour at 324 of the 623 metered spaces.
Town Manager Paul Bockelman said the changes are needed to ensure there is a sufficient supply of parking spots for shoppers, diners and other visitors.
While the town may make more money for its transportation fund with the increased fees, that is not the main reason for the adjustments.
“The purpose is to influence behavior and to encourage turnover to ensure there are adequate spaces available,” Bockelman said.
The 110 premium spots will be called the minicore. People will be charged $1 per hour and be able to park for up to two hours. These premium spots include the metered spaces on Main Street west of Churchill Street, Amity Street east of South Prospect Street, North Pleasant Street south of Kendrick Park and South Pleasant Street north of Spring Street.
The idea for the minicore came from a request from the business community for quicker turnover at these spaces.
The main core’s 224 spaces will also be $1, but people can park for four hours. These spaces are primarily in parking lots, including on Main Street, Amity Street and the upper level of the Boltwood parking garage.
In both the minicore and core, enforcement will be done from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with Sundays and holidays excluded.
The remaining spaces outside the core will remain at 50 cents and have a four-hour limit, the only exception being the town-owned parking lot by CVS Pharmacy, where parking can be done for up to eight hours. Enforcement will also end two hours earlier, at 6 p.m., in the non-core locations.
These include parking spaces on South Pleasant Street and Boltwood Avenue surrounding the Town Common, on Main Street near the Emily Dickinson Museum, the lower level of the parking garage and the Pray Street parking lot.
No specific date has been set for when the changes go into effect, as the Department of Public Works needs to fabricate new signs and adjust meters, Bockelman said. The changes, he said, won’t necessarily coincide with the installation of the new parking machines in November, which use a license plate identification instead of paying by space.
“I’ll report back to the (Select Board) a date. It’s weeks out, though,” Bockelman said.
Previously the board increased parking fines from $10 to $15 beginning Oct. 1, and adopted a snow emergency procedure during the winter months in which anyone can park on streets overnight, unless a snow emergency is declared.
The votes mean that the Downtown Parking Working Group can move onto other topics, including whether it should hire a consultant to examine parking issues; form a subcommittee to explore the need for a second parking garage; and making other adjustments, such as to the annual $25 for downtown parking permits. Meanwhile, “no parking” signs have gone up on Olympia Drive and seven parking meters will soon be installed. The meters are part of 33 that will go on the street.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.