DDA Lifts Parking Rates, Sets 2012 Calendar
Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board meeting (Jan 4, 2012): The DDA board dispatched with its January meeting in just under a half hour. The discussion by the board and the public about its main agenda item – parking rate increases – had already taken place at previous meetings.
Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board member Roger Hewitt cleans his spectacles before the start of the DDA’s Jan. 4 meeting. (Photos by the writer.)
The parking rate increases that will affect many downtown visitors will not take effect until Sept. 1. Among the increases to take effect eight months from now are an increase in on-street metered parking from $1.40/hour to $1.50/hour and an increase in the hourly rate for parking structures from $1.10/hour to $1.20/hour.
Other increases are set to take effect on Feb. 1: an increase in the premium permit parking rate by $5/month (from $175 to $180); an increase in the Ann & Ashley and Liberty Square structure evening/Saturday rates by $1/entry (from $2 to $3); a $1 increase in the 415 W. Washington lot entry (from $3 to $4) and a $5 increase in monthly permit rates (from $80 to $90/month) there; and an increase in First & William lot permits by $10/month (from $105 to $115).
A change of the effective start date – from Feb. 1 to Jan. 21 – will apply only to the meter bag rates. They’re set to increase by $5/day (from $15 to $20).
Also at Wednesday’s meeting, the board approved its 2012 calendar. Board meetings are set for the first Wednesday of the month, when they’ve typically been held, except for July 4. That meeting date was shifted to Monday, July 2.
The board also heard the usual set of reports from various subcommittees covering a range of topics, from the future of the midtown area – which includes the AATA’s Blake Transit Center and the Ann Arbor District Library building – to electric charging stations.
During his regular report from the downtown area citizens advisory council, Ray Detter remembered Ray Fullerton, a former member of that body, who passed away on Dec. 18. [Full Story]