FERNDALE, Mich. – Ferndale City Council members have opted to delay the restructuring of the City's parking rates to allow for time to gather data that can be used to validate a future rate structure that will support the expansion of a concentric parking plan.
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Council voted and approved the delay at Monday night's meeting.
The delay means that rates for on street and off street parking have been restored to $.50 per hour, and employee parking pass rates to $20 per month through December 31, 2013. Once a permanent lighting solution is approved, parking will be enforced between 10am-11pm, Monday-Saturday. Mayor Dave Coulter commented, "One of the greatest benefits for upgrading our parking system with the LUKE pay stations is their ability to collect real time data. Using a data driven approach will help us determine a rate structure that is fair to our businesses and patrons, while also helping us understand what expanded capacity looks like in Ferndale."
During the Feb.25 council meeting, council members requested that staff delay implementation of the preferred concentric parking system. City staff, the DDA and members of their Board, and industry professionals used this time to determine a balanced approach to rate adjustment. City Manager April Lynch said, "Delaying implementation of the new rates considers the rate concerns shared by the public during the preliminary rollout, and allows us to leverage the new pay stations ability to record useful data that will contribute toward realizing a flexible long term parking solution".