Photo by Leo Reynolds on Flickr.

In Arlington, VA, the parking meters shut down at 6pm, but many streets stay busy until much later. The crowded streets and overfull parking contribute to a sense that parking in downtown Clarendon, Crystal City or Rosslyn is hard to find. But there are many off-street garages available, either for free or for a nominal fee with validation.

Charging for parking on the street after 6pm would encourage people to take transit or find parking in a garage, leaving the street spaces for more short-term customers.

The manager of a cell phone repair shop in Ballston told me that there was meter parking available near his shop, but not after 5pm, because that’s when the spaces fill up with squatters that stay all night.

A recent study conducted by San Francisco concluded that as the operating hours of a business district expand, so should the operating hours of the parking meters that are essential to ensure turnover and available spaces.

Arlington’s parking meters shut down at 6pm because that’s what the county vehicle code says: parking meters shall operate every day between the hours of 8 am to 6 pm every day except Sundays and holidays.

But the code provides some apparent flexibility for the staff to adjust the meter hours as appropriate: the County Manager may provide for different hours of meter operation whenever he determines that traffic conditions in any particular zone required such change; in which case the County Manager shall cause a tag, showing the hours of meter operation, to be affixed to each meter in the zone affected by such change and he shall have other appropriate signs erected showing the hours of legal operation in the zone.

I spoke with the county parking manager, who looked into the matter. She said that the staff interpretation was that the authority in the code is only for temporary extensions, and that long-term extensions of meter hours would require the Board to give authority, and should happen only after discussion with the community. After the recent complaints by Jack Evans of the DC Council regarding similar changes, that sounds like a fair idea.

What should the process in Arlington look like for parking meter changes? Should it follow the full set of notices, hearings, approvals by the various citizen commissions, or should the process be shorter and more responsive to conditions as they happen?

Let’s take the Clarendon area as an example. Hardly anyone would argue that the main street spaces are underused at 7pm most weeknights (I’ve tried to find parking there, to no avail), so some extension of the hours is appropriate. What should the process be?

One option is for Staff to collect data, request a formal advertisement from the Board, and then publish the proposed meter extension, including the rate to be charged, the ending time, and the boundaries of the extended zone.

The proposal would then be reviewed by the Transportation Commission and any other applicable citizen commissions, the applicable civic association(s), the local BID (Clarendon Alliance). The staff would then report the item and any comments from citizen commissions to the Board, who would then hear public comments and vote on the matter.

Another option is for Staff to publish a public notice, and hold an information meeting in the community, where the information about the proposed hours changes would be available, and the public would be given opportunity to provide comments or speak to the staff. Staff should have information available about the typical parking crowding during the evening hours. After the information meeting, the staff could take action directly without seeking board approval.

The last option would be for staff to collect data about parking crowding, optionally publish the data, and then post a notice that the changes would be taking place, and later finalizing any hours changes.

Since the Staff believes that they need more authority to enact changes in parking hours, it’s up to the board to decide how much authority to give to staff. The real decision turns on whether parking changes are considered mere mechanics, reacting to the observed conditions, or whether the decision is political and requires vetting through many stakeholders.

I would recommend the middle course, with a chance for citizen and stakeholder input at one public meeting, where the proposed change and the data supporting the change can be presented.

The Arlington County Board should authorize the County Manager to determine which parking zones need to operate past 6pm, based on occupancy, then to present the data and solicit public comment, and then to adjust the hours of operation when needed to make spaces available.

Michael Perkins blogs about Metro operations and fares, performance parking, and any other government and economics information he finds on the Web. He lives with his wife and two children in Arlington, Virginia.