The City of Virginia Beach is trying to set next year’s budget and the parking guys want to charge you even more for those metered spots, raising it from $1.50 per hour to $2.
The goal is to make it the same price as if you were parking in the city owned garages and lots.
“You will have the same rate regardless if you are parking at the meters or the garages,” says Resort Administrator Mike Eason.
But they want to raise rates for residents who park in garages too. Right now, if you show your license with a Virginia Beach address, you only have to pay a flat $2 rate to park. The proposal is to make that $3 instead.
“Who wants to keep forking out money wherever you go?” asks resident John Crane.
Crane lives in Norfolk and comes down to the Oceanfront any chance he can. But he says the increase could keep him away – and other locals too.
“They may say we can go elsewhere where we don’t have to pay. That’s going to hurt the businesses,” Crane says.
Erika Christian owns a boutique at the beach and is worried that after a winter of below average sales, this could make it worse.
“I don’t want them to raise it because we want the locals to come down and support local restaurants and come to the beach and shopping,” she says.
But the proposed increase is to offset the cost of new technology to make it easier for you to park at the Oceanfront.
Back in June, NewsChannel 3 showed you two new apps the city implemented to make it easier to find parking, and easier to pay, too.
Some local shoppers say in that case, it’s worth it.
“To pay for the convenience… it is a free app so something has to pay for it,” says resident Allison Whitson.
Right now, the increases are just proposals. The city will decide whether to raise the rates when they approve the final budget in May. And if they do, this can go into effect as early as July 1st.
