Update: Ann Arbor council members seek resolution to ‘embarrassing meter/ticketing fiasco’
ANN ARBOR, MI – Ann Arbor’s decision to continue issuing parking tickets amid the coronavirus pandemic isn’t sitting well with some in the downtown business community.
While the city announced this week it was shutting down non-essential city services and the Downtown Development Authority made parking free at all public garages and unmetered lots, city parking officers are still ticketing people for expired meters at metered spaces.
That includes on-street spaces in front of downtown businesses that are struggling, and there’s confusion with some parking being free and some not, business representatives argue.
The city confirmed it issued 421 parking tickets citywide Tuesday, March 17. That was about average, city spokeswoman Lisa Wondrash said.
Still, it prompted complaints.
“Many of the vehicles parked at meters downtown have parking tickets on their windshields,” Main Street Area Association reps wrote in a letter to city officials Tuesday afternoon.
“We believe this sends a counterintuitive message to our community to have free parking in lots and structures, yet enforcement on parking meters.”
Parking tickets are issued to vehicles parked on the streets of downtown Ann Arbor on Wednesday March, 18, 2020.Nicole Hester | Mlive.com
The letter was signed by Association Director Sandra Andrade and President Ed Shaffran. They noted the negative impact the virus outbreak is having on downtown businesses.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has prohibited dine-in service at bars and restaurants to help slow the spread of COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new virus.
Businesses that are trying to make it by staying open a few hours a day or by offering curbside pickup “now have the obstacle of customers being penalized because they get a parking ticket for basically doing what our governor has asked us to do,” Main Street area reps wrote to the city.
“We urge you to stop with the enforcement of the parking meters until the governor lifts the current ban on restaurants and bars.”
Some parking in downtown Ann Arbor now free amid coronavirus outbreak
The city issued a statement Wednesday, March 18, standing by its decision to treat metered parking enforcement as an essential city service amid the pandemic.
The city plans to continue to require payment at metered spaces, but officials note all public parking at garages and unmetered lots remains free until at least April 5.
There now are bagged meters at on-street spaces in front of some downtown bars and restaurants to assist with pickup of carryout orders, city and DDA officials note.
Until further notice, parking enforcement will continue at all other on-street and lot meters, according to the city.
The DDA’s decision to not charge for parking at unmetered lots and garages is intended to help prevent the spread of the virus by eliminating cashier interactions with customers, DDA Executive Director Susan Pollay said.
Tom Crawford, interim city administrator and the city’s representative on the DDA, also described it earlier this week as a way to make people feel free to come downtown and support local businesses.
The city will continue metered parking enforcement to ensure appropriate turnover outside businesses and for efficient operation of the downtown, Crawford said at the City Council meeting Monday night, March 16.
City Council voted in 2018 to increase the cost of an expired-meter ticket from $20 to $25, with a $10 discount if fines are paid within one day.
Hourly meter rates vary, but can be as much as $1.90.
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