New Hope OKs free holiday parking

But meters will be bagged on weekdays only.

By: Linda Seida
   NEW HOPE — Two business organizations eager to entice shoppers asked the Borough Council for free holiday parking, including weekends, but had to settle for a compromise when officials agreed to bag meters weekdays only.
   The free weekday parking will be offered from the Monday after Thanksgiving through the Thursday after Christmas, Nov. 27 to Dec. 28.
   It is "consistent" with what has been offered in past years, although last year no free parking was granted because no one requested it, Borough Manager John Burke said.
   Not everyone liked the compromise.
   Howard Cooperman of the New Hope Business Alliance, who owns the Howard Gallery, was pleased to receive free weekday parking.
   "I’m very satisfied," he said later. "I’m very happy that we were able to get five weeks."
   Charlie Sahner, who owns Uncle Charlie’s General Store, sees it differently.
   Mr. Sahner, a member of both the New Hope Area Chamber of Commerce and the New Hope Business Alliance, said later the borough used to offer free parking for the entire period from Thanksgiving to Christmas, but since has "gradually whittled back" the enticement for shoppers. Now, businessmen feel as if they must ask for it "hat in hand" and "beg for something that they stole from us."
   He said the borough is "addicted to parking dollars, on both meters and tickets," and is reluctant to give any of it up. The council has "killed the goose that laid the golden egg; tourism is down."
   He blames the parking tickets visitors receive as well as the meters that must be fed until 9 p.m.
   The council in April rolled back meter-feeding times from midnight to 9 p.m. in response to complaints from the business community. At the same time, the council also raised the price of a parking ticket form $15 to $20 to make up for revenue lost to fewer metered hours.
   "It really comes down to dollars and cents," Mr. Burke said, explaining the borough already lost revenue when it gave back three hours of metered parking.
   Mr. Burke said he could not yet discuss specific numbers concerning how much meters bring in and how much the lost hours cost the borough because he still was trying to compile accurate figures.
   "On the whole, the feeling is we’re still somewhat behind on revenue," Mr. Burke said.
   Initially, the alliance and the chamber were each on the agenda for the Oct. 11 council meeting to ask for free holiday parking. When Council President Richard Hirschfield realized the two groups were about to make proposals on the same topic, he asked them to confer before making one proposal.