New Hope shuts off meters earlier

The meters in the borough now do not have to be fed after 9 p.m.

By: Linda Seida
   NEW HOPE — Customers now are able to eat a late dinner at a borough restaurant or listen to a band at a local bar without having to run outside to feed the meter.
   The cutoff time for feeding parking meters has been rolled back from midnight to 9 p.m.
   The Borough Council unanimously approved the rollback April 11 in response to complaints from the business community.
   The change took effect immediately. It was prompted by a request from the New Hope Area Chamber of Commerce. The earlier cutoff time is believed by some to enhance the borough’s friendly and welcoming atmosphere. Merchants and restaurateurs have said they’re received complaints from customers about the inconvenient and inhospitable midnight cutoff.
   The council also raised the parking fine from $15 to $20 to make up for the revenue lost because of fewer hours of metered parking.
   "I think it was a good compromise," council President Richard Hirschfield said later.
   The chamber last month requested an 8 p.m. cutoff time for the meters. The chamber also suggested the higher parking fine to offset the lost revenue.
   "We crunched those numbers, and we came up short," Mr. Hirschfield said. "We felt at 9 o’clock, we could make our budget."
   Revenue from parking meters accounts for about $365,000 of this year’s budget.
   The council has no plans to revisit the parking meter issue in the near future, according to Mr. Hirschfield.
   "Not until next year, if then," Mr. Hirschfield said. "Once you go through this, you want to let it go through at least a season or two and see what happens."
   The council was willing to consider the chamber’s proposal if the impact was "revenue neutral," Borough Manager John Burke explained previously.
   Parking changes in the borough can be a hot button. Almost 100 people attended the discussion of meter hours last month. Parking spaces in general in the heart of town are at a premium, and some believe metered parking specifically can have a negative effect on business.
   A separate faction of the business community had requested a more drastic reduction of meter hours to 5 p.m. and also wanted fines cut to $5.
   Parking meters must be fed beginning at 10 a.m.
   The borough first extended meter hours to midnight in 2004 to help pay for more police presence in the heart of town where officials said bars and clubs generated increased nighttime traffic.