BIDDEFORD — Sticking to a schedule approved by the council in September of last year, rates to park downtown in Biddeford were increased earlier this month.

According to City Manager James Bennett, the rates are not technically an increase, but rather the end of a six-month grace period formulated to allow residents the chance to acclimate to the paid parking plan enacted Dec. 1, 2018.

“We always planned to have six months at the introductory rate, and it would move up from there,” said Bennett. “This is part of the plan.”

The plan introduced parking kiosks and associated fees to lots where it had been previously free to park. The plan’s introductory short term rate was $1 per hour to park in the lots; a $30 monthly permit for a Monday through Friday pass; $20 for a nights and weekends pass; and $40 for a 24/7 pass. The rates changed on May 1 to $2 per hour, $50, $35 and $65 respectively.

The municipal lots affected are the Alfred Street parking lot, the lot at 17 Franklin St., a Franklin Street parking lot on the corner of Franklin and Washington streets, the Federal Street parking lot, Foss Street lot, Gas House parking lot on Water Street, Washington Street parking lot and the wastewater parking lot on the corner of Water and Pike streets.

Bennett said while permit sales are underperforming at the projected $138,540 to $124,686 between inception and present, fees from hourly parking for lots have produced revenue that exceeds the initial projection of $57,200 to $102,960. Bennett said permit sales and parking lot fees go hand in hand, and that the higher than anticipated fee revenue is a result of the lack of permit sales; people are more likely to pay for an hourly fee rather than invest in a permit.

“There are some lots that unfortunately are not selling any permits at all, like the two on Water Street,” Bennett said. “We thought there would be at least a few there, but it doesn’t seem to be the case.”

The price change for permits went into effect May 1.

During a special council meeting on April 25, councilors reviewed the parking fees as presented and discussed the possibility of a delayed rollout.

Councilor-at-Large Marc Lessard was the first to propose a hold on the decision, motioning for an open-ended extension until the ramifications could be discussed more formally at the City Council level. When met with dissent over the ambiguity of the motion, Ward 6 Councilor Norman Belanger countered with a July 1 start date to coincide with the start of the new municipal budget.

Ward 5 Councilor Amy Clearwater worried about changing the fees during the busy summer season, and proposed it go into effect in fall.

“I’m cognizant that the business community is having a difficult time conveying what the status is (with parking),” Clearwater said. “I would love to see us let this ride all summer, even if it is a revenue hit, to see that people who use the downtown are comfortable.”

By the end of the 17-minute meeting, it was apparent that the council was hesitant to change the start date any further. Ward 7 Councilor Michael Ready said should the price change be enacted on May 1, it would be the first time that the council had executed something within the parking plan on time, without changes.

“One of the things that has caused the most confusion is us. We’ve changed almost everything that has come through,” Ready said. “It’s been out there, it’s clear and I’m going to support what’s in place now.”

Inevitably, the council voted down all motions to extend and adjourned the meeting having made no change, allowing the plan to take effect May 1.

For some business owners downtown, however, the sting of lost business has left them soured at the thought of the price increase.

For Brian Keely of the WonderBar Restaurant on Washington Street, he finds that the time limited spaces in front of his business are often taken up by business owners and employees moving their cars every two hours so that no spaces are available for patrons.

“We have customers who usually visit us a few times a week, and now we’ll go a week or two without seeing them,” Keely said. “When we ask them they’ll tell us that they drove around a few times and then went somewhere else.”

For Grady Sexton of Grady’s Radio and Satellite TV on the corner of Main and Alfred streets, the implementation of paid parking — specifically the Foss Street lot across the street from his business — has led to an increase of towing in his own private lot. According to Sexton, people who don’t wish to pay for the lots try to park in his lot, which services an apartment building, four storefronts and eight offices. Sexton frequently polices his own lot and calls for a tow truck when he spots those parked illegally.

“These are residents that I’m towing, and I don’t like it. I don’t want to have to tow them, but it’s a position that the city has put me in now,” Sexton said. “I don’t have a choice. If I can’t provide parking for my tenants, they might go somewhere else.”

While Sexton is grateful for his own private lot, which he says he would be in “deep trouble” without, he is worried about his fellow business owners downtown who are suffering because of parking restrictions.

“The city should come down and actually talk to us business owners,” Sexton said. “Then they’d see how it’s affecting us.”

Many frustrations are rooted in the assertion that the implementation of parking kiosks anywhere in the downtown is a direct violation of the 2014 binding citizens referendum that asked voters, “Shall the City of Biddeford install parking meters in the greater downtown Biddeford area?” The vote to install parking meters was soundly defeated, with 6,761 no votes and 959 yes.

Biddeford resident Jason Litalien filed an injunction against the city to halt the implementation of the parking plan in October 2018 on the grounds that the plan is a direct violation of the referendum. The case awaits a court date in Cumberland County Superior Court following a York County judge recusing himself from the case.

“I already pay so much in taxes, and they’ve gone up too,” Sexton said. “Our parking should at least remain free down here.”

Contact Staff Writer Abigail Worthing at news@inthecourier.com.