Downtown Fort Smith parking meters could be history

Anyone in the market for used parking meters may want to contact the City of Fort Smith. But don’t get the checkbook out too soon. The city isn’t expected to decide what to do with the meters until early 2025.

According to Joshua Robertson, Fort Smith’s deputy director of business administration, the city has 315 total meters and 285 active meters. He said some meters were removed for permitted parking, and some meters are not working. Meter revenue has averaged just under $66,000 a year in the past three years, with revenue in 2021 totaling $70,197, 2022 revenue at $61,695, and 2023 revenue at $65,946, according to Robertson.

Some members of the Fort Smith Board of Directors wanted the meters removed, so the city waived downtown Fort Smith parking meter fees between Nov. 24, 2023, and March 31, 2024. The time without fees was intended to allow the Fort Smith Police Department to study the impact on parking, particularly the rate of turnover with parking spaces along Garrison Avenue, the main road in downtown Fort Smith.

“According to their findings from March 1 to March 29, the Police Department observed 792 vehicles. Of the 792 vehicles, 701 were parked for less than one hour, and 91 were parked for more than one hour. Of the 91 vehicles, the average time parked was two hours,” noted a summary provided to the Fort Smith Board for its Tuesday (April 23) study session. “During the entire time parking fees were waived, no parking complaints were received. Based on this data, parking meters may be removed with little to no impact to our businesses.”

If deciding to stop using parking meters, Deputy Police Chief Anthony Parkinson suggested to the board during the study session that they cover the meters and leave them in place “in case you change your mind.”

City Director George Catsavis lobbied for removing the meters as soon as possible, saying he believes they are a bad image and “are not welcoming to downtown visitors.” Director Lavon Morton said numbers from a police department study suggest there will not be a problem with parking if the meters are removed.

Downtown property owner Phil White told directors he had mixed emotions about removing the meters. He noted that “it could get out of hand” with people parking in one spot all day when paid parking ends. He suggested that numbers from the police study might change when meters are gone and not just covered.

“Once they see the meters are gone, you may get a different number (from the police study),” said White, who is also a member of the Central Business Improvement District (CBID), which has limited development authority in much of downtown Fort Smith.

Bill Hanna, also a downtown property owner and the CBID chair, said he leans toward removing the meters but suggested the city could also consider “better technology” to charge for parking without needing a meter in front of every parking spot.

Talicia Richardson, executive director of 64.6, a group that works with business owners to promote entertainment and activities in downtown Fort Smith, didn’t offer an opinion but said there are different needs along the avenue the board may consider. She said with increased occupancy in the area, not having metered parking could become a problem based on the customer needs of some businesses. She said the city may want to consider “zoned parking” during certain times of the day based on the different needs. She also said 64.6 is willing to conduct a survey about parking meters with business owners in the downtown area.

The board consensus during Tuesday’s study session was to cover the meters until the end of the year to gather more input from downtown business owners and visitors and get more analysis on parking patterns. The issue is expected to be on the voting agenda for the board’s next regular meeting.