A majority of Alexandria’s City Council won’t support City Manager Jim Parajon’s proposal for paid parking on Sundays, but the door to increasing parking meter rates and fines is still open.
City Council had first reading on a number of parking-related ordinances yesterday (Tuesday), which, if approved later this month, would increase parking meter rates and parking ticket fines and add paid parking to metered spots on Sundays.
Those voicing opposition to Sunday paid parking included Mayor Alyia Gaskins and Council Members John Taylor Chapman, Jacinta Greene, Abdel Elnoubi and Canek Aguirre.
Gaskins said that the city has additional funding to close the nearly $727,000 that paid parking on Sundays is projected to generate.
“This is an option that I would not ultimately support,” Gaskins said. “As I’ve been thinking about the larger budget, and even as I’ve looked again now and reflected on some of the add/deletes [to the budget] that have been proposed, I think there’s additional funding to be able to close the gap.”
While not in favor of paid parking on Sundays, Aguirre said that not approving it would leave a hole in Parajon’s proposed $977 million budget. He also said that there is some flexibility regarding the proposed changes.
“With Sunday parking, we can decide to not do it at all,” Aguirre said. “We can decide to do Sunday parking that starts at 1 p.m. and then that would change the amount that we would have to backfill. Or we could potentially do a six-month pilot, and if we decided to not continue it, then that would be half of the $700,000, or we could do the pilot with a 1 p.m. start.”
Chapman said that he will not be voting in favor of paid parking on Sundays.
“I think the community, certainly, is going to understand that this is concerning, and particularly for members of the business community that have spoken up about this in particular,” Chapman said.
Elnoubi said he wants to find other ways to fill the funding gap.
“I’ve also heard from businesses and residents and community members who don’t feel comfortable supporting the Sunday parking,” Elnoubi said.
Without getting into specifics, Greene said she would vote to move the ordinances forward to City Council’s budget adoption meeting on April 29 but would not support Sunday parking.
“I will vote to move it forward, but I do have serious thoughts on why I would not support it,” Greene said.
Parajon said he would look at additional ways and flexibility for the council to adjust within the BPOL tax ordinance, the increased parking fines and paid parking on Sundays.
Under the revenues summary, Parajon’s budget proposes:
The Department of Transportation and Environmental Services will receive the following additional revenues:
- $2,544,538 in revenue from Parking Meter Fees as a result of an increase in the hourly rate from $1.75 to $2.50 to more closely align with off-street parking rates and other jurisdictions ($1,817,694) and the addition of paid parking on Sunday ($726,844).
- $900,000 in revenue from Parking Citations as a result of an increase in parking violation fines from $40 to $50.
Northern Virginia localities with free metered parking on Sundays include Arlington, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, Prince William County, Falls Church, Fairfax City and Manassas. Localities with paid Sunday parking include the resort area of Virginia Beach, which enforces metered parking 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and limited high-traffic areas in Richmond near VCU Health and City Hall.
Council also approved introduction of a proposed 5-cent increase to the city’s Business, Professional and Occupational License (BPOL) tax and stormwater utility fee hike.
Upcoming budget meetings
- Saturday, April 18 — FY 2027 Budget Tax Rate Public Hearing and Add/Delete Public Hearing
- Tuesday, April 21 — FY 2027 Budget Work Session #7 Preliminary Add/Delete
- Monday, April 27 — FY 2027 Budget Work Session #8 -Final Add/Delete (if needed)
- Wednesday, April 29 — FY 2027 Budget Adoption/Tax Rate Adoption
