Fayetteville city council agrees on recommendation for paid downtown parking

FAYETTTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Free parking is going away in downtown Fayetteville.

Monday night, the city council agreed to adopt parking recommendations from Walker Consultants.

The city hired the firm to look at the parking needs against the new baseball stadium, Prince Charles hotel and future downtown development.

The firm recommended that the city do away with free two and three-hour parking in downtown Fayetteville, and instead, go with a smartphone metering system, which is similar to what the city of Raleigh has.

As far as prices, parking would be $1 per hour from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Game day parking would remain consistent with Dogwood and International Folk Festival parking prices at $5 to $10.

There is a sweet spot. Walker Consultants recommended the city offer the first hour free for the parking deck.

While that gives lunch time customers at Blue Moon Café a break, it doesn't necessarily help the owner or his employees who work downtown. He told ABC11 he had mixed feelings.

"On one end I expect the growth with the city. A lot of larger cities that I've been to and been in all use paid parking and on the other end as someone who's down here every day working in the community, it sucks as a business owner having to pay that much," said Nathan Cufee.

According to the parking study, charging for parking would generate nearly a half a million dollars in revenue. It could also prove lucrative for business owners too. The city said when a customer pays, chances are they're going to spend more time downtown to get their money's worth.

The change would not happen overnight. The council still has to approve the ordinance portion of the recommendation.