More scaling back of downtown parking meters urged

Erin Neff

Friday, Dec. 1, 2000 | 10:31 a.m.

The city of Las Vegas tried drawing more people downtown by making parking at meters free in the evenings.

Now, in response to concerns from a local restaurant owner, the city has scaled back its meters even more.

Just a year ago, meters needed coins from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. -- a stint covering not just routine business at downtown courts, law offices and City Hall, but also a critical post-work time when much of downtown lies dark and isolated.

But with so much emphasis placed on the need to entice, not discourage, people from coming downtown, the city scaled back the hours of meter operation from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Andre Rochat, the owner of the renowned Andre's French Restaurant on Sixth Street, has asked Mayor Oscar Goodman to consider scaling back even more -- because meter feeding is keeping customers away from his happy hour, he says.

While Goodman thought the city only scaled back the meters by Andre's restaurant, the Detention and Enforcement division actually made the change citywide.

"Because of the revitalization efforts downtown, the city always works with businesses," said Benet Vega, an executive assistant to Detention and Enforcement Director Mike Sheldon.

Sheldon was in Mesquite at a law enforcement meeting Thursday and could not be reached for comment.

But Vega said the city has made every effort to accommodate businesses downtown by reducing the meter times.

"That's great news," Goodman said after learning the meter hour reduction applied citywide.

Parking has been a constant problem downtown and has been one of the main stumbling blocks to new office development. Changes in the meter hours, coupled with a new coinless key option for feeding them, has made parking downtown easier, Goodman said.

City officials hope the addition of three parking garages downtown by 2002 also will help ease the problem.

A 600-space garage has already been built under the site of the planned Neonopolis entertainment retail center. Another garage is being built by the city at the site of the Pauls Corp.'s City Centre Place office tower on Fourth Street.

The city also will build a parking garage across Stewart Avenue from City Hall for city employees, freeing parts of the existing City Hall garage for public use.

In the meantime, residents still have trouble parking downtown during business hours when visiting City Hall or the city's Development Services Center.

And on Dec. 20, the City Council is expected to approve an ordinance that would repeal a discount program for parking meter violations. Tickets currently issued for expired meters are for $20, but cost just $10 if paid within 15 days.

That 50 percent reduction program is expected to be eliminated by the council, in part, because a recent audit determined the city had overcollected about $680,000 from meter violations.