Birmingham sees changes in parking meters

BIRMINGHAM  — The Birmingham City Commission has approved multiple changes to the current on-street parking system in the city.

 

Two-hour meters
For a six-month pilot program, parking meters have been increased from one-hour zones to two-hour zones, excluding meters on Maple between Old Woodward and Chester, and on Old Woodward between Willits and Brown streets.

The meters in the excluded areas are remaining one-hour zones because those areas are typically busy and require a higher turnover of vehicles, officials said.

Birmingham uses CivicSmart LNG Smart Meters, and guests pay for parking through coins, credit cards and the ParkMobile app. Depending on the time zone of the meter, guests have a maximum limit of parking for one hour, two hours, four hours or 12 hours  9 a.m.-5 p.m. The one-hour and two-hour zones are extended to four hours between 5 and 9 p.m.

The changes were prompted based on feedback from the community.

Aaron Ford, the city’s parking systems manager, said in the meeting that, “based on the feedback we’ve received from the BSD, the Birmingham Shopping District, the average stay of patrons in Birmingham is approximately two hours.”

He added that feedback has shown that guests think one-hour is not enough time to enjoy the businesses downtown, such as restaurants, workout facilities and hair salons. Once a patron reaches the maximum limit, they are not able to add time to the same spot.

“That’s done intentionally to keep patrons from overstaying their welcome and creating turnovers so those spots are made available to somebody else within the city,” Ford said in the meeting.

While there is no way of measuring the success of this pilot, the city plans to observe usage and patterns of these parking spaces.

Commissioners Andrew Haig and Clinton Baller voted against the measure.

“I think we want the meters to be for people who are staying less than two hours so that there’s turnover, and if you’re going to stay for more than two hours, we should, with our wayfinding, encourage them to go to the decks and give them decks that are inviting,” Baller said. “I’m actually glad to see us making some adjustments,” he later added. “Just wishing that they were adjustments that achieved our purposes, and I’m just concerned.”

 

15-minute short-term parking pilot program
The commission unanimously decided to expand a 15-minute short-term pilot program throughout downtown, between Brown Street and Harmon, and Woodward and Chester, on 16 designated parking spaces for a six-month pilot program.

The 15-minute short-term parking pilot program originally began at four parking meters when Brown Street was renovated in 2023. Due to the success of the program, they decided to expand it downtown.

Due to road improvements on both Maple and Old Woodward and the increase in pickup and delivery orders that have followed the COVID-19 pandemic, the city has experienced issues with guests parking illegally in Americans with Disabilities Act spaces, the hashed areas next to ADA spaces, moped parking spaces, and in the left-hand turn lanes.

“I would say, with an aging population, with the spring and summer coming up, with people wanting to be out and about and walking short distances, and ADA compliance, etc., we can all name surrounding communities that struggle with parking,” Mayor Elaine McLain said. “Under no circumstances do we want to be parking-unfriendly to our own citizens, to people visiting, to seniors, to people that are challenged in any mobility way. We need to be flexible and responsible and consumer-oriented that way.”

The success of this pilot program will be measured by comparing the number of citations written in these spaces during and before the trial. The City Commission unanimously approved expanding the 15-minute short-term pilot program through downtown, between Brown Street and Harmon, and Woodward and Chester, on the designated 16 parking spaces to include the parking meters for six months.