City may raise parking fines

Drivers in Atlanta could face steeper fines for overstaying their welcome at hundreds of parking meters operated by ParkAtlanta, according to legislation set to be considered by Atlanta’s City Council.

The private company that runs Atlanta’s on-street parking program wants a larger and more predictable stream of revenue. Residents and visitors want relief from what some describe as hyper-aggressive parking enforcement.

Atlanta officials are trying to figure out a way to collect more parking revenue even as they try to placate business owners who say ParkAtlanta is driving away customers. Some business people say the burden should be spread throughout the city instead of concentrated in their neighborhoods.

Proposed changes could affect thousands of in-town residents, as well as many suburbanites who are unfamiliar with Atlanta’s parking regulations and are bewildered by the signs and meters that have popped up around the city. Atlanta’s daytime population swells by hundreds of thousands of people every day as commuters, shoppers and tourists stream into the city.

The latest plan is to raise the initial fine for an overstayed meter to $35 — a $10 increase. Then, if the ticket is not paid in full within 14 days, the fine would jump to $70. And 45 days after a ticket is issued, the fine would hit $95.

Since ParkAtlanta started issuing tickets in Atlanta in November of 2009, 150,000 unpaid tickets have run up a balance of $7.4 million. The increased fines would not apply retroactively.

When Atlanta hired ParkAtlanta to operate its on-street parking program 2 1/2 years ago, the outsourcing arrangement called for the city to get $5.5 million a year.

The city has been trying to find a compromise between ParkAtlanta’s zealous ticket-writing and residents’ anger ever since.

The $5.5 million in revenue, equivalent to about 1 percent of the city’s general fund, was put in jeopardy when the City Council limited ParkAtlanta’s operations, including putting restrictions on Sunday enforcement. An arbitrator ruled last year that the company was only obligated to pay the city $1.5 million a year, a 73 percent cut.

“It’s just a really sticky situation,” said City Councilman Alex Wan, who represents the Morningside area.

The idea now is to use higher fines on a sliding scale to encourage quicker payment, because a more predictable revenue stream for ParkAtlanta has a direct bearing on Atlanta’s already pressured budget.

The changes could come up for a vote by the City Council as early as June 18, and would have to be signed into law by Mayor Kasim Reed before going into effect.

The public is invited to weigh in on the latest proposal at a hearing at City Hall on June 13 during a regularly scheduled meeting of the City Council’s transportation committee.

The city and ParkAtlanta are still trying to find common ground.

The company, a branch of Milwaukee-based Duncan Solutions, said it does not take a position on ordinance and policy changes. They are “the exclusive responsibility of the city of Atlanta,” ParkAtlanta said in a statement.

If the past is any guide, the ire of business owners, residents and out-of-towners over parking tickets is unlikely to cool quickly.

Pushback from residents and business people helped kill an earlier proposal by the Reed administration to extend enforcement hours at meters past midnight and deep into the night in some cases.

In most areas, a $2 flat-rate fee for overnight parking would have been charged from Monday to Saturday.

That proposal quietly died a few weeks ago.

Currently, much of ParkAtlanta’s enforcement — and hence, resident frustration — is focused on traditional business and entertainment centers, including Midtown and downtown, where hundreds of meters have sprouted.

Other than downtown and Buckhead, “all of the parking burdens already fall incredibly disproportionally on the backs of a tiny handful of business/residential areas like Little Five Points and Virginia-Highland,” said Richard Shapiro, past president of the Little Five Points Business Association.

Hundreds of other business areas across the city have no meters at all, Shapiro said.

“While we do not like the existing parking situation, the fair thing to do, if additional revenue must be raised from parking, is to spread the impact and pain out to the rest of the city” by adding meters elsewhere, he said. “Level the playing field.”

Reveal White, who works at OMG Taco, said up to seven officers have written tickets at one time outside the Euclid Avenue restaurant.

“It’s affecting our business,” White said. “It’s a little annoying.”

Paul Luna, owner of Loca Luna and Eclipse di Luna restaurants, put things bluntly.

“This contract does not work for the residents and business owners,” he told a City Council committee that was considering 24-hour enforcement.